


A Love Like Ours

by KnifeBinaryPrince



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Altean Lance (Voltron), Blood, Blood and Injury, Druid Lance (Voltron), Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Galra General Keith (Voltron), Galra Keith (Voltron), Graphic Description of Injury, Injury, M/M, Muteness, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Time Skips
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-13
Updated: 2018-08-08
Packaged: 2018-12-14 03:56:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 16
Words: 29,009
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11774973
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KnifeBinaryPrince/pseuds/KnifeBinaryPrince
Summary: A love like their's will last through any war.Even those that last ten thousand years.





	1. Will Plant The Seed

**Author's Note:**

> I thought of this au on a whim and tbh I needed to write it out because everyone could use more fics with BAMF!Lance.
> 
> And even more with BAMF!Klance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With time to spare why not see what the lab testers are up to?

Dark purple ears twitched and turned at every sound, the bustling of both Alteans and Galrans alike not making it any easier to focus on just one.

The five protectors of the universe were currently celebrating, Zarkon dismissing his high commanding officers to take a break, most likely pressured by Alfor no doubt to give them all a break for their hard work.

Keith had nothing better to do in his rare free time anyway, he'd rather wander around the extravagant building than stay at the dinner where he'd be forced to hear whispers of his origins and questions of his loyalty because of his "half-breed" status. Something of which wasn't questioned for a second by Zarkon. He had been trained by the emperor himself, raised from a kit to the warrior he was today. The fact that any dared question where his loyalties lied was insulting in itself to both him and the trust Zarkon placed on him.

He did well to ignore them...when people were looking. Goddess help those who dared challenge him alone. He wasn't promoted as one of Zarkon's generals for no reason.

The sounds of controlled gunfire hit his ears as he passed by one of the labs, his curiosity piqued at the voices coming from inside.

"The sights on it is a little off, accuracy is about as good as a a drunken Killin, and it has the potential to jam and cause a backfire."

"So it's not good?" Another voice asked.

"Yeah no it's complete Gharin fodder, can't be fixed. Next." The first voice replied.

"Thanks Lance, very encouraging." The other said, sighing.

Keith entered the lab quietly, content to watch the bustling of the engineers and scientists alike from the sidelines. He wasn't too keen on socializing, preferring to stay off to the side and quiet, left to his own devices. It always seemed to work best for him, his loner nature and threatening aura keeping others away.

Or at least until now.

"Hey! You're one of Zarkon's generals right?" Keith looked to his side at where the recently familiar voice had come from.

An Altean male came into view, one of the weapon testers from earlier no doubt about it. The voice was similar and he could imagine those words coming from a face like his, a goofy air about him and a small smirk to compliment it.

His dark brown hair was mussed from whatever he had been doing earlier, going this way and that like it had a mind of its own. His cheek markings were a nice shade of blue, contrasting against his dark skin nicely and becoming more noticeable as he gave Keith a friendly smile.

Keith had seen this one, Lance, around before. From what he could tell he was loud, flirty, and according to most mouthy, not afraid to tell someone off no matter their authority. Although besides those so called "negative" qualities he had skills like no other. Named their main sharpshooter with advanced skills in stealth plus a knack for strategy and planning he was a more than valuable asset among the Altean ranks. Keith could respect him for that, and the fact that he was a little more than easy on the eyes helped too.

Not that he'd admit that.

Keith nodded in answer to his question, noticing how the others aliens in the lab had quieted down a bit since he had been noticed. He somehow always had that effect on people no matter where he went. He hated it, knowing all the attention was on him.

The Altean, Lance didn't seem to notice, carrying on with the small chat unfortunately for Keith.

"You're familiar with most weapons right? I would assume a general of Zarkon, while having their own specialty was pretty proficient with the basics of at least most right?" He questioned, Looking up at Keith expectantly for an answer.

Keith was taken aback by the question and small explanation given for it. He didn't expect this one to be so...smart about it. Not that he looked like an idiot per se but he didn't seem the type to delve any further than just the surface. He made sure not to show his surprise however, keeping his face impassive. Although he felt that Lance could see right through it with those pretty blue eyes of his.

Keith nodded again slowly, the other seeming to brighten up at him because of it.

"Perfect! Would you mind coming over and testing out a few of our prototypes or are you busy with something else?" He asked nervously.

Keith paused for a moment thinking it over, he didn't have much else to do and it would a few hours coming if even that before the feast would be over. And it wasn't as if he had anything important that needed to get done, having finished his duties earlier. Plus he'd be helping in the development of weapons to fight against those that would do innocents harm.

With that final thought he nodded, letting the other lead the way towards the testing area.

He noticed how work seemed to resume the further he left the previous work area.

Nothing out of the ordinary about that.

Keith allowed himself to be led along to a lab table with an array of guns and various other weapons spread out before him.

"Pick one up and see how it feels, a few of these we think are okay but I'm not too used to most of these, I'm more of a sniper rifle kind of guy than anything." Lance said, picking up one of the rifles. Judging by the sounds it made Keith could tell it was the same rifle from earlier that the Altean was complaining about with his friend.

"I'm more proficient with the blade, so I'm not too sure the advice I give will help." Keith said quietly, focusing on the selection of weapons so intently he didn't see the soft expression of surprise Lance had made to hearing him speak, or the faint blush that accompanied it right after.

"I'm sure our engineers can make use of it no matter how small or insignificant it may seem." He assured him, putting down the rifle to pick up another. "And if you would like we have various daggers and swords you could take a look at as well if you don't mind." He suggested offhandedly.

Keith thought about it for a moment, pausing in his examining of the current pistol in his hands. He figured he could come down whenever he had free time. There wasn't much else to do after he'd finish his duties. And if his advice, no matter how small, could help those that sought to protect the innocent from scavengers and pirates then it was time well spent he decided.

"I believe I could spare moments of my time for that." Keith answered.

"Good! The name's Lance by the way." Lance stated, watching Keith carefully.

"Keith." He replied curtly.

The small smile he saw from the Altean directed his way made his decision all the more worth it he concluded.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Drew the scene for this chapter: http://klancept.tumblr.com/post/164119657052/watching-your-crush-make-that-face-after-he-gets


	2. Will Start Off Rocky

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When you realize you're in love so to cope with it you leave for months without telling your crush.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Low key liked the back to back episode with the Zarkon meeting Honerva parallel and Lance shooting out the blade coming for Keith's face and said paladin looking at Lance like ho shit I'm in love. And then proceeds to get his ass beat because he got distracted.

Weeks went by that Keith found himself in the weapons testing lab now and again whenever he could spare his time helping to further the studies of the weapons.

He had long since accepted that maybe he didn't just come down here to help with the weapons.

More than a few times he had found his attentions focused on Lance than the objects or weight of the guns and various other weapons he'd be holding in his hands. The Altean was...interesting to say the least. most of the rumors about how he acted were true. He did flirt with the others freely but it was all more or less taken in stride and jest, the Altean not actually expecting a response.

When he did get one though he was flustered as he could get, cheek markings glowing brightly as the other would laugh in a way that signaled this sort of response was normal and to be expected from him.

Lance was also loud, but not in the way he found annoying like the rumors made him out to be. He more or less he had a rather loud presence, something that told people he was there and instantly told them he was gone when he left the room. Those times he found the lab too quiet and empty, even with the other scientists and engineers present.

He was also considerably mouthy, not afraid to call others out for their rash decisions or mistakes. Once he had found Lance deep in a heated conversation with another one of the testers and whatever they had been arguing about he was obviously winning by how the other seemed to shrink back in fear. It was rare to hear Lance so mad, but they really shouldn't have been surprised by it. Lance was adamant about the safety of others, especially friends and those that worked in the lab made no difference. He wasn't going to let any mistakes slide that could have caused more harm than necessary, not only to the one that made it but to those around them that would be affected.

Now for his skills, Keith could vouch they were top notch. Lance was always the one called to test out the weapons for maximum accuracy and efficiency. Being the best sniper in the Altean ranks had his opinion on the weapons valued more than others.

Which begged the question of why he would even ask Keith to help them. He didn't know much about the rifles or pistols, working instead with swords and other various blades he was proficient with.

Although he couldn't say he minded being down here with him. Lance made Keith feel...like someone. Not just a "half breed" or a general but as someone who wasn't just those two things on the surface.

He couldn't quite put a name to that feeling he felt whenever Lance looked his way or spoke to him in that excited tone where he got animated with his body and hands...at least not until that moment in the lab a few weeks later.

 

Keith had been in the lab on one of the days that everyone would be group testing most of the weapons. Everyone on the current lab team gathered in the shooting range to gain information and try the weapons out for themselves so they could catch any mistakes and tweak the little plans and prototypes of their findings for the better use of their chosen weapon.

Keith had been watching intently, or rather watching Lance intently, seeing how he grasped the sniper rifle in his hands with an easy enough grip, firm and immovable. His eye trained down the scope to view his target as he shot and hit it right in the bullseye everytime.

He was impressive to say the least and Keith couldn't help but hold a breath each time that look of pure accomplishment and joy crossed the Altean's face every time he hit his mark.

Keith was so focused on Lance he didn't notice someone yelling for him to watch out and wasn't able to react fast enough for the shot coming straight at his head.

Another shot rang out and Keith felt a bit of shrapnel cut the side of his left cheek, the slice of it hissing past his ears.

He turned wide eyed to look at the shooter of the second shot. The same shot that had hit the fast moving blade that surely would have killed him.

Lance stood with his eyes wide , chest heaving as he breathed heavily, smoke coming out in soft wisps from the barrel of his rifle. Keith had his own wide eyed look as he gazed at Lance, not even believing that the Altean had just shot a high speed moving blade out of the air like it was nothing.

The whole room was quiet, whether in awe, surprise, or shock he couldn't tell. But he did know he didn't like the attention all on him.

Lance seemed to pick up on this quickly, barking out orders for everyone to return to their previous tasks, the Altean putting his rifle down with shaky hands before making his way towards Keith.

Keith was still standing there with his mouth gaping open, in a state of shock at the recent events.

"Hey, hey Keith are you alright? Are you hurt?" Lance said, his words sounding worried and bordering on panicked as he reached a hand up to touch his face and move it to the side to look at the cut on his cheek.

The Galra flinched at the touch, causing Lance to snatch his hand back, worried he had overstepped a boundary.

"Do you need a medic or...?"

Keith shook his head, muttering out something along the lines of "It's just a cut, nothing to worry about, I'll be fine." and so on, leaving the lab to tend to the small wound after he had rushed out a hurried goodbye to the Altean the stood staring after him.

He made it back to his private quarters within a few doboshes. His heart pounding, breath coming out in deep and harsh gasps of air, and blood pounding in his ears.

And he knew it wasn't just from the near death experience.

***

Keith avoided the weapons lab after that, opting instead to go on missions around the system to clear his head and distract himself from his most recent revelation.

However he couldn't stay away for long, months later finding him back to his home planet after his most recent injury, which hindered him enough that he had no choice but to come back.

He figured Lance had heard about his return when the Altean had appeared walking towards him after he had left the feast that night and opted instead to wander the halls.

The Galran had tried to ignore him and just continue walking, but he should have known better than to think anyone, especially him could ignore Lance.

"Hey man, where've you been? Haven't uh seen you for awhile." He asked, sounding nervous, although for what Keith couldn't tell, especially since he was feeling more jittery than Lance looked.

Keith stood tall with his hands behind his back, right hand closed around the wrist of his glove covered left, grimacing slightly when it caused him to jostle his fingers just a bit.

"I've been busy with recent missions." Keith answered curtly, wanting to go back to his room instead of just standing out here, especially with how much he was hurting.

"Uh-huh." Lance crossed his arms, cocking his hip to one side as he looked Keith in the eye, eyes set in a suspicious looking glare directed at the Galra before him. Everything about him changed in an instant, from a nervous wreck to something serious, something deadly. "Didn't know the voluntary missions took up so much of your time."

And right then Keith knew he had fucked up.

They had somehow formed something of a friendship in the last few weeks leading up to that near death incident. Or at least something that heeded Lance's concern over him and his behavior, this time being no different.

Not that the concern over the other wasn't mutual.

Keith had found himself sending messages asking about Lance's well being with one of Lance's lab assistants, a Galran named Friyu who was rather...enthusiastic about weapon testing, yet she provided him with the information he needed so he wasn't going to worry about her seemingly trigger happy tendencies.

Keith shuffled his weight to the other foot, letting out a breath, "I need to go, I have other things-"

"That you need to do, yeah yeah big guy I get it, I just need a few ticks of your time if that." Lance said, voice getting soft at the end and ocean blue eyes getting softer, giving the Galran a pleading look.

Goddess he had to look away for fear of giving in, as much as he wanted to stay his emotions were all over the place and his current mood hadn't improved, neither did the pain in his left hand either. Which was now throbbing painfully and causing him to wince when he curled his fingers even the tiniest bit.

He brushed past Lance in an attempt to get away and leave the impending conversation, muttering out how he was tired and would talk to him in the morning.

"Keith, Keith wait! Goddess for quiznack's sake!" Lance reached his arm out, hand grabbing onto Keith's left wrist in an attempt to stop him.

 

Lance expected Keith to shrug him off and continue on being an overall ass, what he didn't expect was for Keith to let out a loud snarl and snatch his hand away, using his other hand to claw at him on reflex, claws catching Lance on the top of his hand. Lance pulled his hand back in surprise, eyes wide as he looked at Keith who looked just as surprised as he was.

"I...I didn't-" Keith pulled his hand back, left one cradled against him as he looked at Lance with the face of a heartbroken Yupper pup. Something of which tugged at Lance's heartstrings and made his chest ache when Keith took a step back, turning and pretty much running in the opposite direction as far away as he possibly could.

Lance watched him go, too much in shock to notice the blood running down his hand and onto the floor.


	3. Will Blosson

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No pain no gain

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's 4am
> 
> And this is 4k words
> 
> I'm in too deep

Keith closed and locked the door, sliding down to the floor of his private quarters as he took deep breaths to try and calm down to keep from panicking. His good hand gripped his thigh, claws pressing so hard they pierced his clothing and made him bleed. The pain grounded him and got him to calm himself down just enough to take stock of the situation. His racing heart pounded, sweat matting his fur to his skin, causing shivers to chill him as the cool air dried it.

God he was stupid, he should've just stayed in his quarters tonight and slept instead of going out to the feast. Then maybe he wouldn't be here licking his wounds with Lance's face still fresh in his mind. The look of fear and panic he saw causing Keith's stomach to roll. He had a hard enough time even talking to people and now he had probably driven away the only other person he could've even considered a friend and maybe even more.

He hissed when he accidentally curled the fingers of his left hand in the glove, baring his teeth in pain as he grimaced, the tips of his fingers throbbing painfully.

After awhile of just breathing through the pain Keith found it in him to get up and get ready to sleep for the night, even if he knew it'd be a restless night.

***

"Quiznack Lance are you okay?" Friyu asked, rushing over to the Altean male and taking his wounded hand in her own. Lance shook his head, coming out of his daze and mess of thoughts as she fussed over him, the Galran female leading him to her workstation and sitting him down so she could get the proper medical aid to clean and bandage his wound.

"I'm fine Friyu I promise." Lance muttered, trying to pull his hand from her grasp. She wasn't having it though, gripping his wrist harder and finishing up her work on him, eyes daring him to protest.

He relented, letting her finish wrapping it and mulling over how Keith had acted when he had lashed out. Like he was doing it purely out of reflex, outside of conscious thought like instinct was driving him. Like a wounded animal too hurt to see reason and differentiate between good and bad so to speak.

"Friyu could you hand me my data pad please?" Lance asked, watching her as she did just that, handing it to him, her purple eyes watching him carefully.

She watched him tamper with the data pad for a few moments before she spoke up, "Do you mind telling me what happened for you to get clawed? Those scratches are pretty deep." She commented, watching him closely.

"Actually I do mind," He finished with the data pad in a couple more taps, the glow and light diminishing as it powered down, "And I would appreciate it if you kept quiet about it as well." Lance suggested, getting up to leave.

"Would it by chance have anything to do with that Galra General? The half breed?" Friyu questioned, voice sounding somewhat accusing as she spoke. Lance knew it was all for show. She could smell his scent on Lance's wound and they both knew it.

"For someone who helped that same 'half breed' as you call him with keeping tabs on me you sure sound every bit sour at the mention of him." Lance mused, stopping in his tracks with his back to Friyu, waiting for her response.

"How'd you know?" She asked surprised.

"Oh please, acting as if you're surprised, my skills and insight seem to be underestimated by you. Besides, a child could have found out with how careless you are with your own computer, downright pathetic really." He spat, tone turning ugly. He'd heard the whispers and rumors surrounding Keith, and knew how untrue each and every one of them was, having gotten to know the Galra himself over the past few months. He'd be damned if he was gonna let some lowlife talk bad about him.

"He's scum, nothing more than dirt on the bottom of our feet, he's nothing." She said, raising her voice near the end.

"Zarkon doesn't seem to think so. And I'd keep my mouth shut about his choice in generals, since going against his decision would prove fatal. And seeing as how your past history wouldn't bode well for you if it were to come up in the future I would _really_ keep my mouth shut about the general." Lance threatened, looking back at her with piercing blue eyes.

The look in his eyes shut her up, something dangerous and deadly in that glint of shine.

"Make sure to lock up behind me Friyu." Was the parting phrase he gave her as he left, the weight of that threat still heavy in the air no matter how casually the statement was said.

***

Keith had woken up in a cold sweat, letting out a loud hiss in pain when he accidentally pressed his weight on his left hand to sit himself up. He held his injured hand to his chest, trying his hardest not to jostle it as he got dressed for the day.

Once finished with that slow process (not being able to move his hand properly without doubling over in pain hindered most of his movement.) he checked his terminal for any messages or lists of duties he had to complete. There was only one message, which was odd to say the least. Usually there would have been over ten or more with reports from his unit and orders or missions from Zarkon himself. But today his inbox was uncharacteristically empty except for that one message, which stated it was sent from an unknown sender.

This whole thing gave him an uneasy feeling, not necessarily a bad feeling but not a good one either. However it wasn't enough of a bad feeling to keep him from opening the message.

_Meet me down at the entrance to the Optrium Ore caves, we need to talk._

_-Lance_

Keith froze as he read the name, the fur on the back of his neck raising as his palms got sweaty, ears going rigid. He really wasn't ready to talk to Lance, especially now. He barely knew what to say in everyday casual conversation, yet alone what to say after incidents like the one last evening. Maybe he could make the excuse of having to go on a mission and being too busy to talk today.

Just as the thought passed his mind another message came into his inbox, also from the unknown sender and he paused for a tick before opening that one.

_P.S. I talked to a few people and your schedule should be cleared, so there's no excuse for you to not be there. See you in a varga._

_-Lance_

Quiznack.

Keith let his head fall, of course he convinced them to get his schedule cleared. He should've known, if anyone could've gotten Zarkon to give him the day off it would be Lance. That Altean could charm even the most stiff and uptight generals. He'd seen it happen himself. He had never seen General Vrasha let someone work her into a melted puddle of food goo before. He had her wrapped around his finger, or had made it seem like the other way around. He couldn't imagine the general letting anyone have even the tiniest bit of control over her.

Keith took a deep breath, giving himself a moment to steel himself before he left the room, locking the door to his quarters and making his way down to the ore caves.

***

Keith made his way down to the caves, a few miles from headquarters and south from the crater where Honerva's research was taking place.

He jumped down from a small overhang in front of the cave, startling slightly when he heard a yelp.

Lance had been leaning against the inside of the cave's wall when Keith had jumped down out of nowhere, startling the Altean from his thoughts and almost causing him to lose his footing. Almost.

He caught himself before he could face plant into the ground, giving Keith a dirty glare.

"Warn somebody next time you wanna just appear from the sky okay big guy? Almost died right then and there." Lance muttered angrily, brushing off the dirt from his usual lab wear.

"You wanted to talk?" Keith said, wanting to get straight to the point and get this whole thing over and done with. He was hoping to get this done and over with as quickly as he could, he wasn't much for conversation and conversations like these were a definite no for him.

"Follow me." Lance said in lieu of an answer, walking into the cave a few steps and turning to look back to check that Keith was following.

Keith swallowed, watching how the sunlight washed his dark skin in a golden glow, catching his eyes at just the right angle that they seemed to glow an even brighter blue.

The Galra coughed, forcing his head down as he made his way into the cave with Lance, trying to hide the blush that no doubt had flooded his face with his dark bangs.

Lance continued, listening out for the Galra behind him as they ventured deeper into the cave, the light from the entrance becoming less and less until they were drowned in pitch black. Keith's night vision helped him see the way around him, Lance holding a hand to the wall and feeling his own way through. His steps were carefully measured and he had obviously been here before, side stepping even the smallest rocks and parts of the wall that jutted out. He worked around these obstacles so smoothly Keith would've almost believed he might've had night vision himself if he didn't know better.

"You've been here before." Keith said, stating it rather than questioning.

Lance jumped at the sound of his voice so close to his ear, causing goosebumps to rise on his skin. Not in an overly unpleasant way but surprised nonetheless.

"I've been down here a few times whenever I can get away from the labs, it's quiet and dark. My favorite part is up ahead though and it's the best place to work my magic." He said.

Even if he couldn't see Lance's face he could hear the amused smirk in his voice. His curiosity piqued at whatever Lance found amusing about that phrase.

He wasn't able to think on it when bits of Optrium Ore started appearing, the purple glow from the shards lighting up the tunnel the farther they went, until a large bright purple light appeared at the end of the tunnel, their destination he figured if the way Lance sped up towards it was any indication.

They came upon the end of the tunnel, emerging into a large, cavernous room awash with purple light, the walls covered in the glittering purple shards, pillars of the ore reaching from floor to ceiling and spreading out like jagged webs. Keith couldn't help but stare around him in awe, ears twitching at the sound of dripping water and the small critters that crawled and slithered over the rocks and ore, going to hide in the darkness that the ore's glow couldn't reach.

"Amazing right?" Lance whispered quietly. Keith nodded, not being able to find any words to describe what he was seeing or his feelings about it, not that he would've been able to in the first place. He found it odd how quiet Lance was being, as if this place was sacred and too important to ruin with anything louder than a whisper.

Lance tapped him gently on his right arm getting the Galra's attention. Said Galra's ears perking up in interest with a look of pure curiosity on his face. Lance had to use all his willpower possible to keep from cooing, which was difficult to say the least. For a bad ass general Keith could be incredibly cute at times and Lance was sure Keith didn't even know that he was doing it. Honestly it wasn't fair that Lance had to see him in the labs nearly every day all those months ago. He had almost missed a few of his shots because of Keith, sometimes scrambling to correct himself so he could accurately aim and get the information needed for the prototype's tests.

"Come on and sit with me big guy, I got something to show you." Lance lightly grasped at his good wrist and by then Keith was sure Lance had picked up on the fact that his left hand was off limits. His face fell when he saw the wrappings around Lance's right hand, a pit of dread forming at the bottom of his stomach.

"I'm fine you know, it's just a scratch nothing big enough to worry over." Lance said, obviously picking up on Keith's sudden change in mood as he led the Galra to the middle of the room's unusually smooth ground.

"That...doesn't excuse what I did." Keith said, voice oddly soft coming from the large male. He let Lance pull him down to sit, the other kneeling on the hard ground in front of him face to face. Or as face to face as he could get with the slight height difference they had.

"No it doesn't, but it's understandable when you've been declawed."

Keith went rigid in surprise, ears swiveling forward, his heart hammering in his chest.

"How...how did-" Keith stuttered nervously, a panicked edge leaking into his voice.

Lance covered both of his hands around Keith's good one, rubbing at his knuckles in gentle circles to calm him. Oddly enough it worked as Lance spoke softly to explain himself.

"My niece is adopted and Galra, she had both her hands declawed by her parents who didn't really give a quiznack about what they were doing, said she had to learn the hard way if she was going to learn at all. They were awful and I wish I had been old enough at the time to strangle them with my bare hands myself," He spat, lips pressed in a thin line as his mind went back to less than pleasant memories. "She wouldn't let anyone near her for the longest time, snapped at anyone that got too close. A few months later and she tolerated being touched, just small touches though, like on her head or shoulders. Her arms were a no go and anyone that tried would get bitten. I was always around her to make sure no one touched her and over time I guess she trusted me enough to let me touch her as long as it wasn't near her hands." Lance smoothed out Keith's own hand, squeezing his fingers gently in a rhythmic motion, his eyes staring at nothing as he continued his story. Keith was sure Lance didn't even know he was doing it. But he found the repeated motion soothing on his nerves as he waited patiently for Lance to gather his thoughts.

"When she was comfortable enough with me touching her my parents taught me how to wrap her hands and fingers properly and how to do it extra carefully, so it became a nightly ritual for me and her. It hurt so bad most nights she cried herself to sleep, more often than I wished it took hours for her to calm down enough to actually fall sleep. It was hard on everyone. It was hard on her." Lance finished, letting out a breath and pausing in his ministrations to look at Keith, who was looking at Lance with an expression the Altean couldn't quite decipher. "Just...what I'm trying to say is, I don't blame you for snapping at me the way you did. You were hurting...you _are_ hurting and you don't need to feel sorry for that, especially since it was beyond your control. You were relying on your instincts and I shouldn't have grabbed you like that in the first place." Lance finished, eyes looking everywhere but at Keith, his face looking darker than it had been a moment before. But that could've just been the light playing tricks on Keith's eyes.

"If you don't mind me asking...how did...how did it happen?" Lance asked timidly, something Keith wasn't used to, Lance was always so boisterous and outgoing, seeing...hearing him like this was an oddity in itself.

"Me and my unit were in enemy territory, we had finished our objective and was about to head back to the ship when a few of us were ambushed, me included. I stalled for time to let the others escape and get to the ship, the enemy was quite impatient for information." Keith answered, short and to the point.

Lance bit his lip, looking down at their joined hands and jumping a bit in surprise, simultaneously loosening his grip on Keith's hand. Said Galra only tightened his grip, not so ready to let go even if he was slightly embarrassed by it.

Lance didn't say a word, letting a small smile cross his lips as he resumed his earlier actions, rubbing soothing circles into rough, battle worn knuckles.

A few doboshes went by that was just them and the comfortable quiet that had settled over them. The sound of water dripping echoing through the large chamber.

A few more ticks went by when Keith realized there was something Lance had said that didn't seem right. He lifted his head to look at Lance, finding the Altean already watching him, his mouth gaping open at being caught staring. He looked away hurriedly as his face warmed and his ears darkened.

"You said it was hard for her." Keith inquired. Lance looked up at him, nodding slowly as he wondered where Keith was going with this.

"Yeah..."

" _Was._ " Keith repeated.

Lance smiled at that, something small and mischievous like he was about to share a secret. Unbeknownst to Keith he was.

"Do you trust me?" Lance asked.

Keith reeled back a bit at the sudden question and the serious tone of voice used. This didn't seem like one of Lance's usual jokes and tricks, the Altean looking completely serious as his bright blue eyes searched Keith's face for some type of answer.

Keith thought it over carefully, over the months he had known Lance the other was friendly, reliable, and not afraid to call out on anyone's mistakes, his track record on past missions mostly geared towards positives, although he didn't follow some orders given. But Keith had noticed the orders called would mean leaving a teammate behind, something Lance was definitely not going to do if the reports were right. He always pulled through and was there for his teammates, never once thinking to leave even one behind. Keith held respect for him on that regard.

During the dinners Keith somehow did end up attending even with his protest Lance was there to keep him company and ward off any unwanted fleeting affections of the guests, more often than not helping Keith to sneak out during the later hours to watch the stars until sunrise, away from the crowd of people and bustle of activity and noise.

He had seen the other during training as well, sometimes even joining the Altean, and while their fighting styles were drastically different they each had each other's back. And Keith was sure in a fight he'd be able to hold his own and watch Keith's back simultaneously as well.

But did he _trust_ him?

He didn't even need to even think about it, Keith was pretty sure he already did.

He nodded, watching the smile on Lance's face widen, and right then and there Keith knew he wanted to see that smile again for as many times as he could possibly get.

"Give me your other hand." Lance said softly, letting go of Keith's right hand in favor of holding both of his out with the palms up, letting the Galra take his time and proceed on his own terms.

Keith slowly brought his left hand out, hesitating before settling his hand into Lance's own soft ones, which was odd considering he worked with guns on the regular and without gloves as well. Not that he was complaining, the warmth from the Altean's hands soothing the throbbing pain in his fingertips, providing some form of relief he hadn't felt in days.

"Can I take the glove off or do you want to?" Lance asked, watching Keith carefully.

The galra's ears flattened a bit against his hair, displaying his sudden nervousness before he nodded. Lance had dealt with a declawed kit before, so he was fairly certain Lance knew how to deal with situations like this carefully.

Lance let his hands run along the underside of Keith's hand, coming to his wrist and the very edge of his glove. He started slow, making sure to split the glove at its self healing seam and peel it down from Keith's hand slow and careful. Whenever he even flinched Lance would stop and wait until Keith nodded for him to continue until the whole glove was off, revealing the jagged split open gashes that ran from his fingertips to his first knuckle where claws had obviously been before. It was so bad he could see bits of his bone.

Lance's cheek markings glowed, his anger palpable at the state Keith's wounds were in, like someone had just peeled his claws back without a second thought. Honestly if he ever got his hands on whoever did this, if they weren't dead already they were definitely going to be once he found them. This was beyond cruel, leaving a Galra without their claws, leaving them to deal with the crippling pain that came with it. Unable to even move their fingers like they wanted to because the pain would have them doubling over and nearly blacking out with the intense amount of pain just from that simple motion.

"You okay? " Keith asked, nervously wondering why Lance was so quiet.

Lance shook his head, hiding his anger with a smile even if his markings betrayed him. "I'm fine Keith, just need some quiet for a few moments so I can concentrate." Lance replied, looking down and focusing on the task at hand.

Keith watched closely, eyes focused on his crippled hand in Lance's own smaller ones. He blinked his eyes a few times as a gold yellow light appeared to emanate from Lance's skin at his hands, growing in brightness as ticks passed by.

Bits of glittering specks of light floated through the air, touching and seemingly soaking into his fingers.

"Distract yourself." Lance muttered, eyes closed as he focused on doing whatever it was he was doing.

"Why?"

"Because this next part will hurt if memory serves me right, especially since you're awake and a lot older than my niece was."

Not even a tick after he said it a stabbing pain went through his finger tips, causing him to hiss out angrily. Lance's grip on his wrist was the only thing keeping him from snatching his hand out of the Altean's firm grip.

"You need to calm down and distract yourself from the pain." Lance repeated, brow furrowed as Keith struggled.

"It...hurts." Keith gritted out, a few ticks away from full out crying, the pain traveling down his arm and causing his muscles to lock up and strain.

Lance sighed, like he was making a final decision before he sat up on his knees to reach Keith's face, pressing his lips against lightly chapped ones, causing the Galran general to pause in surprise as the light from Lance's hand swallowed his own in a bright glow.

Eyes fluttered closed for both sides, mouths moving together in a slow relaxed place, the pain in his fingers forgotten Keith let himself get lost into the kiss. Lance was warm, like the sunlight that warmed his face in the morning and entranced him to stay in bed just a little while longer. He smelled like skin moisturizer, soft on Galran senses in consideration of those around him while on Daibazaal and the labs on Altea, smelling like the colorful flowers that grew in great volumes in the fields. Everything around him was just purely Lance and he couldn't help but to get lost in him, forgetting about the pain in his hand altogether.

Lance pulled away after a few ticks, Keith trailing after his lips like a lovesick Yupper. And no he didn't whine okay, he just didn't.

"Quiznack sorry, sorry! I was only trying to distract you from the pain so it'd be easier to deal with and I'm really sorry I wasn't thinking at all and to be honest can you blame me? I mean you're like out of this world levels of hot, pun not intended I swear! Not that I'm saying you were asking for it or anything because of your looks because that would pretty much be me objectifying you and seeing you as just some sex object and I know better okay?! My mom taught me to respect people and I swear I respect you and mmph-" Lance's words were swallowed by another hungry kiss, a clawed hand running up through the back of his hair and cupping his head to keep him close, shutting him up quite effectively. Keith would just save that little bit of information for later.

When they separated again Lance had a goofy grin on his face, cheeks red with his markings glowing brightly, his skin gaining a light, blue iridescent sheen that glittered prettily in the purple glow that surrounded them, like small fine specks of glitter. His image was complimented very nicely by his mussed up hair, sticking out every which way from where Keith's claws had run through the dark brown strands, causing a content rumble to roll through his chest as Lance bit his kiss swollen lips nervously.

"Okay got it, no apologies needed at all. Absolutely none." He giggled, yelping out in surprise when Keith gently pressed him to the ground, covering Lance with his own body like a heavy blanket, his arm positioned behind Lance's head to keep him from cracking it against the floor. He peppered the Altean's face in kisses as Lance laughed, the sound echoing through the cavern, causing a warm feeling to settle in Keith's chest.

He was so glad he had the rest of the day off.


	4. Will Bloom

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Promises made and late night kisses to sweeten the deal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter!!! Wrote this up even if I have a headache and looking at any screen hurts but I'm excited to continue this!
> 
> I hope everyone's had a great day and can find some comfort or joy out of this!

Keith looked at his hand in awe, curling his healed fingers to view his newly grown claws, not even believing that the pain that had plagued him for days was gone and wouldn't linger with him for the rest of his life.

"How?..."

Lance watched Keith look over his new claws with amazement, his voice filled with such awe and disbelief.

"It's something I've been able to do since I was young. It runs in the family, skips a few generations down the line and I just happened to be the lucky one it decided to thrust itself upon." Lance explained.

"Do you know how you do it?" Keith questioned, genuinely curious.

"My great grandmother says I can bend and influence life force and it's energies, which I guess with the recent discovery would be quintessence."

"So it does what you tell it?"

"Not exactly, it's more of, I ask nicely and because I'm a good, polite boy it obeys and rewards me. It's a mutual relationship, more like an extension of one's self and will she says, since the quintessence is apart of everyone. My gram says if you just feed from it like some sort of parasite so it can do your bidding it will just will spite you and corrupt you beyond repair. So I've made sure to learn about it thoroughly and develop a sort of friendship with it before I do anything." Lance finished, leaning against Keith's side carefully, giving him enough time to push him away. Keith let him, a low purr rumbling through his chest at the warmth now along his side.

They were currently sitting at the edge of the cave entrance, the dusk sunlight washing the sky in pretty hues of color, the clouds stretching across it in thin, barely there wisps. A cool wind blew, causing Lance to shiver, his lab wear providing the poorest insulation against the cool air.

"We should probably head inside, it's getting chilly." Keith suggested, seeing Lance shiver from the corner of his eye.

The Altean nodded, getting up with Keith to head back to the main building, they would hopefully arrive on time to get a few saved plates left for any others that were late for dinner.

"Hey Keith?" Lance spoke, walking close to the other to keep from falling or tripping over something. Since he was the only one of the two who could actually see in the dark.

"Yes?"

"Can I trust you to keep what I can do a secret? I've never really told anyone before and it'd be best if it didn't get around that I could do the things I do." Lance explained, wrapping an arm through Keith's to hold himself steady as they walked. Even through the armor Keith could feel the heat from Lance's skin.

"Of course." He heard a relieved sigh come from Lance, the other leaning more of his weight against the Galra as he did so, getting comfortable and leeching as much heat from the taller as he could, the chilly winds and thin uniform not helping to keep his body heat from staying where it was.

They arrived back at the main building a varga later, Lance chilled to the bone and teeth chattering as they made their way to the kitchens.

"You can wait here, I'll get the food. Hopefully Manera has some of her tea left." Lance said, running inside. Keith didn't doubt for a second that he was among the chef's favorites, maybe even ranked number one. Lance could charm even the grouchiest Galrans, Madera no different.

Keith waited patiently just outside the mess hall, leaning back against the wall with his arms crossed as he thought about how the events of the day had panned out. His face got dark and flustered when his thoughts went to what had happened back at the cave, his suit of armor now feeling uncomfortably warm.

He was brought out of his thoughts by Lance, who now had two containers of what he assumed had been for dinner and a drink on top of that, and was calling out his name.

"Wha-what?"

"I've been calling your name for a couple of ticks now, you alright big guy?" He asked, concern in his voice.

"I'm fine just thinking is all, is that dinner?" Keith asked, trying to change the subject.

Lance took the bait, talking animatedly about how the chef inside had left aside a few plates just for him. Madera was an older Galran woman, not one to take crap from anyone but had a real soft spot for some of the soldiers and generals alike. (Although she wouldn't admit to Lance being her number one favorite.)

"Do you mind if we eat at my place? I mean if you want to! I'm just suggesting because it's closer, we don't have to rush or anything if you're uncomfortable, it would literally be just us eating and getting to know each other better. If you want of course I mean-"

"Lance that's fine, I'd like that actually." Keith interrupted, trying to give Lance the chance to breathe if anything.

Lance nodded, a light brush dusting his cheeks as he lead Keith to his quarters, pressing in the code on the door pad before motioning for Keith to follow. The Galra followed him inside, looking around at the cozy living space and taking in all the details and new scents it held.

The place seemed to just radiate Lance, all over the place with bright colors, blue being the most common color choice. There were books and data pads lying about on various surfaces, some so high it look like it'd fall if a draft so much as blew by.

There were different trinkets and knick knacks on the shelves, all aquatic themed in some way, giving Keith an inkling as to one of Lance's interests.

"Sorry the place is such a mess, usually I'd find time to tidy up to at least make it so you can see eighty percent of the floor but I've been in the lab all week and right as I get back I just go right to bed and repeat." Lance sputtered, moving aside some data pads to make room for them on the table.

"That's fine, I don't mind it. Feels...cozy."

It was a lot more homey than his quarters that was for sure. His blank slate of a living space looking the same as it did the first day it was assigned to him. No personal effects added since he didn't do much outside of his missions anyway.

"That's weird," Lance muttered, looking towards a pile of books and other things that were spread across the floor. "This stuff wasn't messed up when I left out this morning."

"How can you tell?"

"Well first off it's-" Lance stopped and looked at Keith, the other having the barest hint of a smile on his face which you wouldn't be able to tell unless you were up close. Or had caught glimpses of his face enough times to tell but that's besides the point.

"Oh ha ha you're a riot, absolutely hilarious." Lance scoffed, although there was no heat behind his words. He stooped down to pick up the scattered data pads and books, Keith bending down to help him, pretending not to notice how their hands lingered whenever they brushed up against each other.

When the last book was put back in its respective place Lance got up and went over to one of the chairs in the living area, looking over the back of it.

"What is-" Keith started, silencing himself when something dark jumped out from behind the chair and landed into Lance's arms.

"Kova? What are you doing in here darling?" Lance cooed, kissing the cat on his forehead while scratching just under his ear. Said cat was purring loudly, rubbing his face against Lance's jaw and neck, looking every bit content being held by the Altean.

Keith was not jealous of a cat okay, he wasn't.

"Isn't that Honerva's cat?" He asked, remembering seeing the fur ball around the research lab each time he had gone there. Which wasn't too many times but he would remember that cat from anywhere, always trying to claw at his ankles whenever he came in. Honerva assured him that Kova was just playing but he wasn't too sure. Especially with the look that cat gave him, like it was just waiting. For what he didn't care to find out so he had stayed away after that.

"Yeah, Kova gets in here somehow and just hangs out. I think he just comes here to nap since it's so quiet with me gone most of the day." Lance explained, setting the cat down and going over to the dining table, Kova following at his heels and rubbing against them as he walked.

Keith sat down with Lance and began eating with him, the Altean quieting the cats meows by feeding him with bits and pieces of his own food.

Hours passed where they just talked, or at least Lance did most of the talking. Keith was more or less just listening, giving his own short answers whenever Lance asked him something. But more often than not it was just Lance talking about his family, how his nieces and nephews used to climb on him like a tree, how he sometimes helped to tend to the garden with his mother, or sit and make flower crowns with his grandmother and his smaller cousins.

Keith listened with rapt attention, eyes trained on Lance's animated form as he spoke, food lying cold and forgotten on their plates as the night dragged on.

Lance finally looked at the time, eyes going wide when he realized how late it was.

"Shit, sorry for keeping you here so late. I'm usually asleep a lot earlier than this and I'm sure you have to get up in the morning." He apologized, cleaning up the table from their plates of food. After that was finished he led Keith to the door, covering up a yawn as he did so.

"You don't have to apologize."

"Hmm?" Lance sounded sleepy, his exhaustion obviously catching up with him.

"I had a nice time."

"It was just me talking your ear off."

"I like the sound of your voice, beats listening to Vrasha yelling in my ear over the comms any day."

Lance laughed at that, making Keith's heart beat faster at the sound.

"Vrasha's not that bad." Lance remarked, leaning against the doorway with his arms crossed. Looking at Keith with sleepy eyes that caused the Galra to lose his train of thought for a moment.

"N-not to you, Vrasha's sweet on you...which is terrifying. I never thought I'd use her name and the word sweet in the same sentence."

"Well, she can be sweet on me if she wants but it won't get her anywhere." Lance quipped, finding himself distracted by some lint on his sleeve.

"Why's that?" Keith asked, trying not to appear too hopeful. They hadn't really discussed what they were since they had left the caves. Although the companionship felt a lot easier, more lingering touches and easy banter he didn't quite know what to label them as. He did know he wanted to be more than just friends however.

Lance hummed, falling forwards against Keith's chest, mumbling in discontent at the cold armor against his skin. He wrapped his arms around the galra's neck, having to stretch up just a bit to hook his arms around.

"Because I already have a mean looking, broody Galra General right beside me." Lance said softly, breath tickling Keith's lips, causing the Galra General to blush furiously.

"I'm not broo-" Keith was silenced quite quickly with a kiss, his hands coming to rest on the Altean's slim waist as his eyelids fluttered shut.

When they parted Lance's cheek markings were glowing brightly, his skin taking on that same glittery, iridescent sheen like it had in the cave, the contrast brilliant with his cheeks darkened from him blushing.

"See you tomorrow?" Lance asked, head tilted to the side with his eyes half hooded, his ears twitching slightly as he waited for an answer.

Damn it he was cute.

All Keith could do was nod slowly, like he had lost all his motor and speech functions.

"Okay cool, good night big guy." Lance finished, giving Keith one last peck on the lips before slipping out of his hold and back into his quarters, shutting the door and leaving Keith alone with his thoughts, still not sure his brain was one hundred percent functional.

A meow got his attention, Kova sitting by his feet, looking at him with bright eyes that seemed to glow in the hall's darkness.

The sound of footsteps carried over to them both, Keith looking down the hall to see Honerva coming his way, the woman dressed in a robe and slippers and appearing frazzled. Until her eyes set on Kova, the cat sauntering towards her with soft meows.

"Kova sweetheart, what were you doing out here? It's too late to be wandering the halls." She said, picking up and holding the cat close to her. She noticed Keith still standing at the door, a puzzled expression on her face.

"General, what are you doing up this late? And shouldn't you be resting? I heard you were recently injured." She stated.

Keith moved his left hand behind his back, curling his now fully healed fingers into a fist, the promise he had made lingering in the forefront of his mind.

"I couldn't sleep, thought a walk would do me good than just staying in bed doing nothing." He answered her, keeping his tone level.

"Of course, well I do hope you get some rest soon, it wouldn't do for one of Zarkon's top generals to be in poor shape." With that final statement she left, leaving Keith in an empty hallway with his thoughts and the lingering taste of Lance on his lips.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd love to hear anyone's thoughts on this! So don't be afraid to comment!


	5. Will Last Through a Visit with Family (Part 1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time to meet the family

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't mean to Make these so long, they just work out like that. Then again it helps because I can get the story moving without adding six more chapters just to get to that point I want to get at.

Months passed where Keith and Lance found themselves more often than not spending more time with each other. Whether it was sparring together or spending nights just eating dinner quietly, both of them found an easy comfort in each other's presence.

They were on their lunch break, both back in Lance's living quarters sitting in the living area watching whatever program was currently playing. It was mostly on for background noise to fill in the silence between conversations.

Keith was sitting on one side of Lance's sofa, the Altean had his feet propped up in Keith's lap as he laid back, the Galra grasping his ankles lightly and rubbing small circles with his thumb into the smooth skin.

He noticed that despite the calm and relaxed atmosphere Lance seemed tense and anxious. Keith wanted to ask him what was wrong but he didn't know how to go about it. He didn't want to say the wrong thing and have Lance shut down and clam up. After mulling it over for a tick or two he found the courage to ask him.

"Is there...something wrong Lance?"

"Hm?" Lance turned his attention from the show he wasn't watching but more or less just staring at and looked curiously towards Keith, his attention now focused all on him.

"You okay? You seem...nervous." Keith spoke, choosing his words carefully.

Lance bit his lip, looking away as he seemed to think about what he wanted to say, his fingers messing with the hem of his shirt.

"So...I told my family all about you, since you know we're kinda dating and all that."

"Only kinda?" Keith teased, dragging his claws a hairs breadth over Lance's skin. Lance kicked at his hand, giving him a glare that held no real heat behind it, especially since he couldn't help smiling at him.

"Okay we're very dating, is that better?" Lance teased, giving Keith a wide grin. Keith would never admit how his heart would skip a beat each time Lance directed one of his smiles at him.

"Much."

"Anyways, they want to meet you and I told them I'd talk with you about it."

"And they didn't already schedule your trip back to Altea for two?" Keith said, a brow quirked as he waited for Lance's answer. Lance had told him how...overwhelming his family could be at times and he was sure this fell under one of those times.

"...maybe, but you don't have to do this if you don't want to, I told them as much. Although gram is excited to meet you, especially since Kaghi is back from her work in the Valentru system.

"Who?" Keith wondered, voicing his puzzlement aloud. Usually he was able to remember most of the names of his family that Lance spoke of, but he couldn't remember him saying anything about someone named Kaghi.

"She's my nani, gram's wife? I'm sure I've told you about her." Lance mused, thinking back he was sure he told Keith about her.

"Maybe it just slipped my mind."  
  
"Do I bore you that much Keith?" Lance teased, although Keith could hear his heart speed in anticipation anxiousness from where he was. Lance's insecurities weren't anything new, but Keith knew enough that he could tell when they sometimes flared up and festered in Lance's head.

Keith gave him the smallest of smiles, squeezing Lance's ankle gently in what he hoped was a reassuring gesture as he spoke. "Of course not, I probably got lost in your eyes while you were talking."

Both of them froze at that, Lance's face getting dark along with Keith's as they both realized what he had said.

"Oh my god stop, you're too much!" Lance groaned, leaning back over the arm of the sofa with his hands covering his now flustered face.

Keith chuckled, rubbing a hand up and down Lance's leg in a soothing gesture while simultaneously trying to damper down the blush that he just knew was present on his face.

Lance uncovered his face a little bit, peeking through his open fingers at Keith who was watching him, head tilted to the side, ears large and turned towards him. Goddess he was cute.

"So...what do you say?" Lance implored, waiting on bated breath for Keith's answer.

Keith thought it over, on one hand he didn't much like crowds of people and by the stories Lance had told there were quite a few of them. He was more than certain they would be sizing him up, judging whether or not he was good enough for Lance, putting all the attention and pressure on him. Then again this was important to Lance, no matter how hard he tried to brush it off like it was nothing, like it was something he could reschedule for later. And Lance was important to him so he figured he could push through his own fears and insecurities of the like for him.

"Of course, when do we leave?"

***

Lance grumbled as he fixed and fiddled with the collar of Keith's outfit. He was without his armor for once, forgoing it for a more casual look that still had a militaristic feel to it. Lance had berated him about it earlier but had quieted down about it when he explained how anything else didn't feel right and restricted his movement. You couldn't really shake off the quirks of a soldier of war anyway, it'd always stick no matter what.

They were currently on a ship to Lance's home planet to visit his small village on the outskirts of the kingdom, surrounded by farmland and the wilds of Altea, the ocean just a twenty minute walk from the house, something he was excited to show Keith once they got there.

"You won't believe how beautiful it is during a sunset! And the sunrise? Breathtaking! I could go on about it for hours! Me, my niece, and nephew would go down to the shore during the mornings and collect the prettiest shells to make necklaces to sell at the festivals they would hold at the castle."

Keith smiled as he listened to Lance talk of his childhood, more focused on the way the light played on his skin and hair, washing him in hues of golden browns and sunrise oranges. How his eyes got bright recalling a certain memory from long ago.

"Are you even listening?" Lance asked him, interrupting his thoughts.

"Uh...of course." Keith stammered, trying to keep his voice steady.

"What you get lost in my eyes again?" Lance teased, falling against Keith's shoulders, eyes flitting about to glance over at the other passengers before looking up at Keith for his answer.

"Maybe."

Keith's ears turned towards the sound of Lance groaning, the Altean slumping against him, head turned to hide his red face and glowing cheek marks into the galra's shoulder.

"What?" Keith said, puzzled by Lance's reaction.

"You are just...too much I swear. There is no way you don't know what you're doing to me." Lance mumbled, words half spoken into Keith's shoulder.

They stayed like that for some time, Keith watching the stars fly by as Altea came into view with Lance on his shoulder. By the time their ship had entered Altea's atmosphere Lance was snoozing lightly against him, not even the turbulence could wake him up.

It was a few dovoshes later that Keith had decided to wake Lance up, the other stretching out and yawning as the ship landed in port.

They left with the crowd, bags in hand or over shoulders as Lance held onto Keith's hand tightly like he'd end up losing him. As if Keith wasn't able to find Lance himself by scent alone.

But nonetheless he squeezed Lance's hand in what he hoped was silent reassurance.

They weaved their way through the crowd, dodging rushing travelers and multiple families returning from vacations, if the kids screaming and running around with odd souvenirs not of Altean design was anything to go by.

Soon enough it thinned out until they ended up on a stretch of road, the city likeness of the area behind them exchanged for fields of Altean flowers blowing gently in the midday breeze.

"God I missed this." Lance murmured, inhaling the sweetened air with a smile. "Now come on, we have to at least make it to the house in time for my mama's pastries, she only bakes those special treats when guests are over and I haven't had some in so long." Lance groaned, tugging Keith along with him down what appeared to be a worn out road.

They started their journey, Keith shouldering his duffle bag and holding onto Lance's hand as they walked, the other picking a few flowers and looking at them closely, trusting Keith to keep him from veering off in a ditch as he looked at the soft petals of the flower, remembering fond childhood memories and lazy days spent napping in the fields.

They spent the better part of a varga walking until the pinpoint beginnings of a house appeared, getting larger the closer they walked towards it. Keith saw how Lance seemed to buzz in his skin, excitement clear in his whole being the closer they got.

"Are we there already?" Keith wondered aloud, the way Lance talked made it seem like they wouldn't arrive there until very late in the afternoon.

"No but we're getting close!" Lance seemed to just ooze over excited energy and if this was what he was like when they were close then he could imagine what he was like when they actually reached their destination.

"This is Mavree's house! I've known her since we were kids! Last I heard of her she had a daughter awhile after I left for Daibazaal a few years ago. I wonder if her mother still makes her Paurian treats?"

"Do you want to go see them?" Keith asked him, everything about Lance's body language buzzing, whether at the thought of seeing his old friend or getting some his friend's mother's baked goods he couldn't tell.

"Are you sure? I mean you did only agree to see my family, you don't have to meet everyone I know." He teased, watching the galra's face for any discomfort.

"I'll be fine and I can just wait outside for you while you go inside and chat. Although I'd be out here all night if you did." Keith teased back, watching as Lance's face set in a glare.

"I guess the pastries are mine then since you're being so rude." Lance said, walking up the small path to the house.

Keith settled himself on the ground to wait, back behind him as he idly watched the scenery around him. There were a couple of fruit trees scattered about along and off a ways from the road they were currently traveling, the air sweet with the scent of ripened fruit. The air was a buzz with bugs and sounds of other critters that were out and about under the warm sun, ears twitching and flicking away any that buzzed too close for comfort.

It was a few minutes later that Keith noticed another sound among the cacophony of buzzes and rustling of the grasses in the wind. A small giggle now that he listened for it.

He turned his head to look, noticing a little face peeking out from behind a tree, a small surprised squeak meeting his ears as they quickly hid back behind it only to peek again and repeat. He watched amused, turning his head away to idly draw patterns in the dirt with his claws, one ear out for the child as he pretended not to notice them.

It wasn't until a few ticks later that he heard the sound of shuffling feet and silence, only to hear it again and repeat as they got closer and closer. He turned his head a bit and jumped when they turned out to be right beside him.

It was an Altean of course, a little girl with dark skin and red hair, her gold markings set to match her bright gold eyes looking at his doodles in the dirt.

"What's that?" She asked, Keith flinching at her unnecessarily loud voice. The little girl squatted down next to him, peering over his arm to see. He moved out of the way of her a bit, the girl made a point to make it known

"It's nothing."

"Are you uncle Lance's friend? He says he brought a friend but said he was too shy to come in. Uncle Lance doesn't bring friends to visit, are you his best friend?" She rapid fired off the questions without even taking a breath, Keith quirked a brow up impressed, the only other person he knew able to talk like that was Lance. Although he was points ahead of her for knowing how to control his volume. Having ears sensitive to sound to the point where you could hear someone's heartbeat was useful, yet made situations like this painful.

"Something like that."

She seemed to brighten up at his answer, smile toothy and showing off a missing tooth in the process.

"Would you like to try one of my pastries?" She asked, smile bright and eyes brighter as she awaited his answer, rocking on the balls of her feet in excitement.

Keith didn't know how to handle kids all too well, mostly standing to the side while Lance dealt with them, considering he had more experience on that front. But he did know they sometimes cried if you said no, so he nodded and went along with it, not too keen on having his ears screamed out by her cries.

She beamed at him with a blinding smile, running up and disappearing into the house faster than he could blink. It wasn't long until the little girl came running back out of the house with a little plate, balancing the small tray of treats in her little hands as she speedily walked towards him.

She stopped in front of him, plate held towards him in a take it gesture, which he readily accepted. He uncovered the white cloth from the plate, revealing still warm pastries smelling sweet and fresh, round little cake like treats riddled with sweet smelling berries that stained the surrounding cake blue.

He picked up one of the soft goodies, taking a small bite. The cake was sweet and the berries had an oddly sour taste but not too bad to turn anyone away from eating it, they were actually pretty good.

He told her as much, the girl smiling widely, any wider though and he was sure her face would crack.

There was the sound of a door opening and voices spilling from the house, Lance's among those, his laugh echoing across the yard. Both he and the girl looked up, the child running to an older woman he assumed was her mother. She had bright red hair done up in long braids running down her back.

Her dress was simple and she handled her daughter running straight into her legs with the grace of any mother, picking her up and holding the small girl to her hip like it was nothing while she spoke to Lance.

Keith turned back around and took another bite of the pastry, wrapping the rest in the cloth and pocketing them to save for later.

Lance walked towards Keith as he left, waving back at Mavree with promises of visiting more often when he could. Keith stood up as Lance walked up to him, grabbing for his hand and tugging him along. A look back and Keith saw the little girl give him a small wave, smile bright as she saw him. Keith gave a small wave back, Mavree seeing the exchange and smiling at the two before going back inside to escape from the sun.

"I see you've met Fava, she's a sweetheart isn't she? Looks just like her mother." Lance spoke, getting Keith's attention.

"So that's her name?" He said, more to himself than anything.

"She didn't tell you? Huh, she's usually a talker."

"She did talk, got all excited and wanted me to try some of her pastries."

"Ahhh her little cakes? She's trying to get good at baking like her grandmother." Lance said, chuckling softly.

"It was pretty good, a little sour though." Keith commented, remembering the taste of the cakes still heavy in his pocket.

"Sour? I'm sure she used Ganberries in her cakes, great for people with a sweet tooth." Lance said, a confused expression on his face.

"Probably a bad batch then."

"Probably."

The conversation ended at that, the two content enough in each other's company to walk in silence the rest of the way there.

***

They arrived at Lance's childhood home half a varga later, the Altean at this point bouncing on his feet.

"We're finally here!" He just about yelled, making Keith's smile even with a ball of anxiety lying in the pit of his stomach. Even with the promised small few family.members that he'd meet today he still felt mostly nervous about it all. He'd never really had a serious enough relationship with anyone to warrant meeting their family. This would be his first time meeting any family for that matter.

Lance seemed to notice his slight reluctance, turning to look back at him and giving him a small reassuring smile as he squeezed his hand firmly.

"Relax, they'll love you."

"What if they don't?" Keith remarked, biting his lip as he looked away from Lance shyly.

Lance reached his free hand up towards Keith's face, making the Galra set his eyes back on him as he spoke, "Like I said they'll love you because I love you and if they don't they'll have to live with it anyway because I'm not giving you up for anything. Besides my gram will pretty much adopt you as her own so the rest of the family would have to put up with you either way, since there's no way she'll let you go without coming to celebrate the Altean holidays and festivities." Lance explained, pecking Keith on the lips softly leading him up to the door.

Keith for the most part couldn't really function, those words echoing through his head.

_They'll love you because I love you._

_Because I love you._

_I love you._

The smallest of smiles appeared on his face and he straightened up just a bit more than usual.

He could totally do this.

 

A woman answered the door when Lance had knocked and he wasted no time in hugging her tightly. She had short brown hair, graying at the roots and warm, dark skin like Lance's, her cheek markings glowing blue at the realization of who exactly was hugging her and she wasted no time as well in returning the affections wholeheartedly.

"Sweetie it's so good to see you! Everyone's missed you so much!"

"I'm glad to be back mama."

They both pulled back, Lance's mother noticing Keith behind him. Her eyes went wide for a moment when she saw him, a large smile appeared on her face as she went right up to Keith and took his hand.

"You must be Keith! Lance has told us a lot about you!" She said, her bright blue eyes sparkling.

Keith couldn't help but relax around her, she had that motherly aura about her and he could see so much of Lance in her he had no doubt in his mind who he took after.

"Good things I hope." He said quietly, smiling bashfully.

"Ah Lance! He's such a cutie pie! Where on Altea did you find such a handsome boy?"

"Mom!" Lance said, face red and embarrassed for either himself or for Keith he couldn't tell.

"What? It's true! Please do come inside, I made some special treats just for the occasion and gram's even cooked up a lunch just for you two!"

They both followed her inside, Lance mouthing a silent apology to Keith who brushed it off. It could've been worse.

The house inside reminded Keith of Lance's room, albeit a lot cleaner but still cozy nonetheless with accents of different colors in the midst of white furniture, blue being the most prevalent. The air was comfortably cool and fresh smelling, feeling pleasant against sun heated fur and skin alike.

Keith's ears swiveled forwards as sounds from what he assumed was the kitchen given the smell of cooking food reached him, two distinct voices carrying on a conversation. One male and the other distinctly female and aged.

They stopped however when Lance's mom appeared with Lance and Keith in tow. A man which he assumed was Lance's father smiled at his wife and gave her a kiss on the cheek, moving to give Lance a bear hug when he came close enough.

Keith watched as Lance was engulfed in hugs and long awaited hellos. Something warm tugged at Keith's chest as he watched, wishing he had something like this to look back on.

The hair on the back of his neck rose up, startling and nearly jumping out of his skin when a warm hand touched his arm.

An older Altean woman had appeared beside him, and from every story he'd heard from Lance he could assume she was Gram, more or less the matriarch of the family. She was short in stature, yet held herself like she could topple even those twice her size. And from the aged yet widened look of her face he didn't doubt for a moment that she could.

"You're pretty tall, strong too if you can handle my grandson, would you mind coming with me to help with getting a few things from the top shelves of the storage room down the hall? My son in law is as weak as a Prujian pup since his accident and I don't feel like watching him struggle with it for an hour. I'd do it myself but as you can see I lack the length of spine necessary to reach."

"Mom!" Lance's dad said, turning red from embarrassment. So that's where Lance got it from.

"Oh hush, besides it'll keep you from interrogating the poor boy." She finished, leading Keith down the hall, the Galra looking back at Lance with a worrisome look. Lance only gave a small smile in return and two thumbs up. Apparently his gram liked him already.

The small woman led him into a room at the end of the hall, the storage room if the boxes that lined the shelves and piled along corners was anything to go by. The room was oddly warm, bordering on uncomfortable. He hoped this wouldn't take long.

"Alright, now if you don't mind I need you to get those two boxes up there for me. I need to look through them, my daughter's and son are coming to visit after you and Lance leave and I'd rather have all this set up before then." She said, watching as Keith carried out the task, setting the boxes down for gram to look through. Keith watched her, eyes zoned in on the various Galran chew stems and soft blankets and bed sheets usually used for kits when they were still young enough to be affected by sensitivity issues.

"My kids aside from Gaza, Lance's mother, and his aunt Miorta are part Galran in some way and my grandkids as well so I usually have these ready before they come to visit." She explained, gently looking through the sheets and other items to check their condition. Deeming them fit for use she pushed then aside and opened the other box.

"Tell me about yourself, Keith was it?" She asked him, pale blue eyes glancing at him before looking back through the box.

"Yes ma'am."

"Please call me gram, or Miss Enerma if you're not quite comfortable with dropping formalities general." She said, pretending not to notice the surprised look on his face.

"How-"

"Lance is my grandson, the same grandson who doesn't bring anyone home to meet the family. Therefore I was curious to know what made you so special. And I'm going to be frank with you the interrogation from me or the 'you hurt him I'll hurt you' speech you were probably expecting isn't going to happen anytime soon or ever, there's really no need for it if I'm being honest with you. I saw the way Lance looked at you and the look you had in your eyes when you looked right back at him. There's no need for you to be nervous, as far as I'm concerned you're apart of the family. Now can you get that one box to the right? I think I have some chews and grips I need to freeze or refrigerate for the little ones."

Keith seemed to relax at her words, feeling a lot less nervous about this whole thing than he once was. He brought down the next box for her, grimacing slightly at the uncomfortable prickling feeling in his hands. He set the box down, feeling a wave of nausea pass over him for a moment before it was gone.

Enerma looked up at Keith from where she was kneeled looking through the box, her long white hair a bit disheveled at having to move massive sheets and blankets from the box and over to another pile.

"Are you okay dear? You look like you ran from the Capitol city and back."

"Wha-" He stumbled and fell to the floor, hands out to catch himself and hissing when pins and needles ran up his arms. His fur was matted with sweat and his tongue felt thick and dry.

He barely felt Enerma's hand on his arm, her other hand moving his face to look at her.

"Quiznack, Keith I need you to lay down, do you understand?" She said worriedly. He nodded at her as best as he could as he laid down flat on his back, trying to calm the shakes and chills that now rattled his body.

"Gaza! Kifen! Get in here now!" She yelled out, shushing Keith gently when he tried to speak, panicking because he couldn't move.

"Dear, I know this is hard but I need you to try and calm down for me okay? You're gonna be alright I promise, just follow what I'm saying and try to breath okay?" Enerma said gently, her calm voice helping a bit with the panic he felt in his chest.

Lance's mom and dad appeared, both looking alarmed at the sight before them. Lance pushed through them, looking terrified when he saw Keith on the ground shaking and struggling to even breathe.

***

Mavree was serving lunch when she looked over to see Fava making more of her cakes, beginning to add in the Ganberries to her batter mixture.

Her mother stopped her with a frown, stopping the girl from even putting one berry in.

"Fava did you get these from the greenhouse?" She asked, she didn't remember a time Ganberries grew this small, or in this shade of blue.

"Yeah I always do! Just like you say to mama, why?" The little girl asked, looking up with bright gold eyes to her mom, who know held a worried look on her face.

"Did uncle Lance's friend eat any? I noticed you had taken the plate before uncle Lance could have one."

"Yeah! He said it was really good! And he's really nice too! A little quiet but I think he's cool." Fava said excitedly.

Mavree dropped the berries, leaving the house and heading towards the green house out in the backyard. She ran to it, slamming open the large doors with a slam, chest heaving as she looked towards the Ganberry bush. A curse left her lips as she saw the smaller bush that grew in it, the berries were very different from the Ganberries, smaller by just a few sizes and a completely different shade of blue. But for a little colorblind girl it would have been so easy to mistake the usually safe berries for each other.

And however much she wished it not to be she knew her daughter had made this mistake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gotta add in that family drama ya feel?
> 
> Anyways I hope you guys enjoyed it and I'm always open to hearing your feedback!
> 
> I'll try to get the next chapter up soon.


	6. Will Be Shaken

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Help arrives

Lance was currently terrified, shaking as he held Keith's head and face between his hands, speaking softly to him as his grandmother yelled out at his dad to get the first aid kit from the bathroom.

Keith's head was pillowed in Lance's lap, the Galran's breathing coming out shallow and rattled, like every breath was a struggle, moving his mouth like he was trying to speak. Lance was shushing him gently, rubbing soothing circles with shaking fingers into Keith's cheeks and jaw, trying to calm his own shakes in the process as well.

His dad returned with the kit, Gaza opening it quickly and finding the blocker, tearing it from its package before she properly prepared it and stuck the needle end of it in Keith's neck. The Galra convulsed, causing Lance's panic to rise before his whole body relaxed, eyes falling shut.

"We only have a varga before the blocker wears off, so in that time we need to find out what might've happened to him. It looks like he was poisoned, with what I don't know but we need to find the antidote soon." Gram said worriedly.

***

Sharp yellow eyes watched closely at the little ones that played at the water's edge, keeping a particular eye on Niran, who was playing with his siblings and known notoriously for dunking them in the water.

She turned her attention from them for a moment, confident enough that their parents would keep watchful eyes on them and focused instead on her small grandchild that babbled in her lap, drool escaping from his mouth as he talked to her.

"How are you doing little one?" She murmured softly, waving her fingers in front of the baby playfully, smiling wide when he giggled and made a grab for her fingers, nearly falling and rolling over in his haste to get the wiggly new toys.

The older Galra woman chuckled softly at him, picking him up and kissing at the baby's check markings softly, nibbling lightly and getting a garbled, drooling baby laugh in return.

The happiness was short lived however when she heard someone calling her name from afar. A quick scan of the surrounding area had her sights set on a frazzled looking Mavree who looked out of breath and messy, hair out of place with red strands falling into her face and eyes, sweat dripping from her brow. She looked as if she'd run all the way from her home to find them, which was a long ways from the ocean front.

Kaghi stood up, giving the baby to her daughter and going towards Mavree, who fell against the Galran woman as soon as she was close enough.

"Mavree what's wrong?" She asked worriedly, it was rare Mavree would leave her mother and daughter alone for as long as it took to get here, and if she was this shaken it must have been something urgent to drive her out here to look for them.

Mavree took a moment to catch her breath, hands grabbing on Kaghi's arms as she held herself there, one of her hands clenched as if she was holding something precious.

"Lance came to visit...brought his friend...Fava gave him...one of her pastries...wrong...wrong berries." She breathed heavily, Kaghi having to hold more of her weight when the Altean fell to her knees.

"Need to get...this to them..." Mavree unfurled her fist, revealing a vial of solid light blue liquid.

Antidote.

"He doesn't...have long...need to get it....to him."

Kaghi didn't waste any time, grabbing the vial and making sure her daughter had Mavree covered before she ran back to the house, worry clawing at her chest. She knew first hand what the antidote was for and the cause of it was less than pleasant.

By the time she made it back to the house she was covered in a sheen of sweat, fur matted and clinging to her skin.

She didn't waste any time, using the new scents in the air to hurry through the home and find whoever needed the antidote. The scent of sickness and sharp poison making it easy to find the poisoned galra, her steps echoing through the quiet house, barely sparing a glance at her daughter who was holding her shaken grandson to her chest, trying to soothe the boy's cries.

Kaghi hurried her steps as the scent grew stronger, her ears picking up on the worried tones of her son in law and mate, both sounding worried and slightly panicked. They both looked to the doorway at the same time when she finally reached the room, ignoring both of their questioning glances as she saw the unconscious Galra laid out on the floor, a blanket bunched up under his head and another laid across him. Kaghi rummaged through the first aid kit as she kneeled down next to her son in law, grabbing the injector and preparing the antidote, moving the galra's head to the side and injecting it into his neck, the male barely reacting to it except for a small twitch of his ears.

"What was that?" Kifen asked curiously, wondering how and what Kaghi had gotten her hands on and injected Keith with.

"Mavree gave me the antidote, apparently Fava used the wrong berries in her pastries and this one here ate some of them. she ran all the way to the ocean front to give it to me. I'm also going to take a guess that this is Lance's significant other?" She motioned at the Galra with a clawed hand, sitting back on the floor, gold eyes glancing between the Galra and her mate.

"His name's Keith, one of Zarkon's generals, top of his class if I read correctly."

"You looked him up?" Kaghi asked, a bit of amusement in her voice as her mate leaned against her, adrenaline leaving the Altean and giving her a weary, frazzled look as she rested against the Galra female.

"Of course, if my grandson brings someone home that's cause for curiosity. Besides, I had to make sure they were good enough for my boy, I'm not having some lowlife scum touch a hair of my grandson's head." She murmured, sighing before she got up from the floor, motioning for her son in law and mate to follow her example.

"Let's try and get him to the guest room until he improves. I'm sure it'll be a few hours before he wakes." Enerma muttered, hurrying Kifen and Kaghi to move quicker so they could hurry up and get the general moved to a more comfortable location.

***

When Lance awoke it wasn't in his mother's arms like he'd thought he'd be in, but rather in a bed not his own and laid next to a familiar, warm weight. Bright blue eyes looked over purple skin and dark hair, the pads of his fingers tracing along Keith's jaw. A breath he hadn't known he was holding releasing when Keith leaned into the touch, unconsciously burying himself into Lance's chest, a low rumble rolling through him, making Lance let out a breathy chuckle at the familiar response.

He dug his hands into Keith's dark locks, pressing his lips to the galra's forehead, his past worries about his health melting away as doboshes passed in peaceful silence.

He ran his fingers through Keith's hair in a recurring movement as they laid together, settling into the surrounding warmth, Lance's reddened eyes falling heavy against tear stained cheeks as he slipped into a deep sleep against Keith.

Only to wake up cold, alone, and aching all over.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter will have a major time skip and the actual summary of the fic will come into play so I'm pretty excited about that.


	7. Will Awaken

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time to wake up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologise for the wait, I'm trying to get through everything but ADHD is a major bitch.
> 
> Anyways I hope to get more chapters out more frequently but with me now working it'll be a hassle to work around for sure. But I'm going to try since I'm s till in love with this fic.

A muffled cracking sound, thick in the air.

A sharp, high pitched hiss of air escaping.

A burst of broken shards.

Sharp twangs of metal warping and bending.

A solid thud as a body hit the floor.

The person that now lay on the floor, covered head to toe in large, dark robes among the broken shards of their imprisonment, took a deep breath and nearly choked, their throat burning as they sucked in the cold, dry air. It chilled them to the bone, shivers wracking their body tenfold now with that detail in mind.

Fingers gripped weakly at the dark purple robes wrapped around them, pulling the dense fabric as tightly to their body as they could to conserve as much heat as possible. But being on a cold floor where it’s icy grip clutched wherever it could reach made it hard.

They needed to get up.

Get somewhere warmer.

With that thought in mind they slowly rose to their feet. Only to fall to the ground in an ungraceful heap, wincing sharply when the shards bit into their hands, knees, and feet, blood smearing against the cold metal of the floor.

The dim lighting gave their sensitive eyes time to adjust, looking around frantically at the blue-purple glow of accent lights reflecting off of dark metal.

Galra.

Their pain was soon pushed to the back of their mind as they heard muffled voices from outside the door of the room they were currently in, panic running through them as they looked for a place to to hide.

* * *

 

“I told you, I heard something!”

“You’re just hearing things, the lab's been locked up tight since last night, no one has the key card but you and me and you know I was at home with Krevis.”

“Hearing things is the reason we’re here you vokan.” The female Galra spat at her lab partner, tired and irritated, her anger directed more at how her day had gone so far than at her partner.

He only chuckled at her outburst, knowing she didn’t mean it to heart, “Lets get this over with then Linol, we still need to meet with the others for breakfast.” Nakren said, standing off to the side as Linol opened the lab door.

“What the quiznack?”

The lab was a complete mess, screens broken with shards of crystal buried in the metal walls and flooring, a few even pierced in the opposite walls next to the doorway.

Broken and shattered pieces of the white shards were scattered around the artifact they had been studying for a few months, the metal of it still intact while large chunks of the once whole crystal lay in the mounted bottom of it.

“What the quiznack happened?” Linol nearly screeched, pulling at her ears in anguish. She went towards the remains of her work and study, lamenting over the months of work and research that couldn’t be replaced and was likely destroyed because of this mess. Her curses rang high, promises of a slow death for whoever did this as she tried to salvage whatever she could from the computers.

Nakren spent his time looking around, noticing how hollow the artifact looked and how the metal from the artifact seemed to have been blown outwards, like something had emerged from it. Careful eyes searched the ground for any clues, spotting dark smears of something on the floor. It left somewhat of a trail towards one of the supply closets, his curiosity piqued as he followed it.

“Linol…Linol!” He whispered, gathering the other’s attention.

“What? What are you doing-“

“Quiet!”

“Don’t tell me to be quiet when all our research has been destroy-“

“Hush! Listen!” Nakren hissed, the lab delving into silence. Linol had never seen him act like this before. So she indulged him, listening closely for whatever he might’ve heard. It took her a few ticks to realize there was the sound of an erratic heartbeat in the air coming from the supply closet Nakren was currently in front of.

Now her interest was piqued.

“Is that blood?” Linol asked quietly, referring to the smears of a dark substance that created a trail under the door.

Nakren said nothing, taking small steps towards the closer. He unlocked it easily, the metal doors sliding open with a hiss, startling whoever or whatever was inside.

When his eyes adjusted to the darkness they widened, a look of alarm crossing his face.

“Linol, get Savak, we’re going to need a medic.” He said, voice so urgent it left no room for Linol to argue as she hurried to fill the request.

* * *

 

Everything was so loud they could barely stand it, why were they being so loud?

They pressed their hands to their ears, trying to cover up the noise or soften it somehow. Nothing worked, and all it did was cut their now bloodied ears.

The Galra male at the doorway was talking now.

The other that was with him had gone but this one was still speaking.

He couldn’t understand what he was saying. Not fully anyway, bit and pieces of familiar language filtered through to actual thought, actual words. But it was so broken up now that they could barely make out the Galra’s full meaning.

They snapped to attention when two sets of footsteps entered the room, trying to shuffle as far away as they possibly could within such a confined space.

The Galra that had stayed with them raised his hands in a soothing manner, trying to placate their fears with a soothing voice on top of that.

The new Galra was female, tall, broad shoulders, but an overall slim figure. Her sharp ears atop her head turned towards them, eyes narrowing as she looked them over.

It made them uneasy.

She spoke to the other two, bits of language they recognized amidst a sea of unfamiliar words and sounds.

It frustrated them.

They should’ve been able to understand the language.

They didn’t know how or why but they knew they should know it.

Trying to block the sounds out they covered their head with their arms, the sleeves of their robes slipping down.

Silence fell for a few moments, until the new female spoke up.

_“Hurt?”_

They nearly got whiplash with how fast their head snapped up, looking with wide eyes at the tall female, her face softer than what it had been, even with her equally as wide eyes.

* * *

 

 _“Medic.”_ She said, pointing to herself and then their bleeding hands.

“Savak? What are you saying?” Linol asked curiously, watching in something akin to awe as their mysterious guest let her close enough to treat their wounds.

Savak's voice was soft and low as she spoke, turning over their hands to look at the damage. “He has a bracelet on his wrist, it looks similar to a few artifacts my sister has found on some of her scavenging and digging expeditions around the ruins of Daibazaal.”

“I thought it was illegal to go digging there.” Nakren added, silencing himself when Savak pressed him with a look.

“I treasure my sister very dearly and while I admit I could call us friends she comes first. So if I have to be rid of you to protect her I will without hesitation.” She said coldly, their guest looking between them, noticing the tension.

Nakren held his hands up in a surrendering gesture, “I was just saying.”

Savak went on to continue, “On one of her expeditions she came back with a few artifacts, those like this bracelet-” she carefully held up the person’s wrist, showing the barest shine of metal on skin without alerting them, “-were among them, albeit in worse condition due to wear and time. Those were dated from over ten thousand decaphebes ago.”

Both Nakren and Linol looked at her with surprise, confusion evident on their faces and questions on the tip of their tongues.

“In any case we’ll find out more when he’s tended to and well rested. Nakren get our guest private quarters so he can rest properly, I need somewhere to tend to his wounds without disturbance. And Linol, if you could contact my sister and request her presence I’d appreciate it. I feel she may hold more answers than I.”

Linol nodded, watching Savak talk quietly to their guest, the strange male nodding as she hooked her arms under his back and legs, hefting him up to follow Nakren to the assigned private quarters.

Linol hastily made her way to one of the only working computers in the room, stepping carefully to avoid the broken shards of her hard work. Her eyes swept over to the large artifact she had been studying for the past few months, mouth tasting sour at the sorrowful sight of a piece of beautiful craftsmanship now warped and broken.

At least with this new development they’d be able to learn more than they ever could from any artifact, the prospect of actually speaking to someone from that era filling her with a newfound glee.

Hopefully Kolivan would approve and allow her research to continue.


	8. Will Be Unrecognizable

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Managed to finish this chapter up today!
> 
> The next few chapters should be more plot filled/actiony I guess.
> 
> Maybe

The female had carried him to a room, something simple with just a bed and a light, a large expanse of glass making up a wall on one side to view the stars around them. He was set down in a rush, guessing why when the female muttered a curse, gathering up some bandages from her med kit as she prepared to clean his still bleeding wounds.

He flinched and hissed when she used tweezers to remove the smaller shards from his hands and legs, cleaning it right after and bandaging it up as securely as she could, voice soft to reassure him. She gave him a small smile when she finished, checking over her work before she cleaned up. Unexpectedly she lingered, going to one of the compartments in the room and taking something from it, presenting it to him unfolded.

It was a plain black robe, not as big as his own but large all the same. It looked extremely comfortable and warm as well.  
He took it from her gingerly, feeling the soft fabric in his fingertips not covered with bandages. It was indeed warm, and clean as well, the smell fresh while his own carried a stale air about it.

“Rest.” She advised, slipping out of the room without another word, leaving him alone with his thoughts and the vast expense of space he was able to see. It took him some time to disrobe and put the new robe on, feeling some warmth come back to him.

But only barely.

His eyes started to hurt again and the headache from earlier was more or less a migraine now. But even then he couldn’t tear his eyes away from the unfamiliar patterns of stars and planets that stretched out as far as he could see.  
Nothing looked as he remembered, or at least what he could remember. Patterns and pathways he’d memorized long ago now useless. Everything was unfamiliar and new, like something had shaken the universe and scattered the pieces around carelessly.

He recognized nothing.

His head pounded again, a sharp burst of pain that cut through him like a blade. He cursed when he brought his hand up to his head too fast, his hand now hurting, blood seeping through the bandage. His mouth had opened to form some sort of sound that expressed his pain, but there was nothing. Not even a small, broken whimper.

Tentatively he placed his fingertips not covered by bandages to his throat, feeling a raised bump there. He traced it vertically. His eyes watered and his mouth shook when he realized he was tracing a scar that was not yet fully healed if the burning sensation was anything to go by.

A solid _thunk_ sounded through the room as he fell to his knees, hands grasping his throat, face mixed with disbelief as his whole body shook with a fear that froze him more than the cold ever would.

And that’s how he stayed, shocked into involuntary silence for hours, body wracked with shivers. Whether from his fear or the cold one wouldn’t be able to discern.

He flinched when a clawed hand touched his arm, looking up into the face of another Galran female. She resembled the female that had carried him to this room, save for her full mane of hair, a few braids strewn through the mix.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you, are you okay?” She asked softly, one of the few languages he recognized and was fluent in flowing from her lips perfectly. He would’ve cried in relief if he was able, tracing a finger down the sensitive scar still new on his neck.

She caught the movement in an instant, rubbing a finger on the sleeve of his robe where her hand was still touching him, attempting to reassure him when she used her other hand to lift his chin a bit, face growing soft and worried when she saw exactly what ailed him.

“You poor thing.”

Her voice carried a gentleness he barely remembers from whatever life he had before…this awakening of sorts. It was something that tugged at his heart and weighed down his chest, a feeling of something akin to homesickness settling in his ribs when he sought to detail it.

He found himself leaning into her embrace, the other stilling in surprise at his curled form that now rested against her. Her surprise passed within a few ticks, settling her arms around the body laid against her own, offering what comfort she could.

* * *

 

Savak, Linol, and Nakren all looked up as Tarni exited the room, questions on the top of their tongues.

“Did he tell you his name?”

“Did he tell you what happened to him?”

“Who is he?”

Tarni held up a hand, silencing them all so she could speak.

“We’re not getting any answers out of him right now.”

“Why not?” Linol asked, brows pinched as she awaited an explanation, crossing her arms.

“He can’t speak, there’s a scar on his neck that still looks fairly new. Seems like someone didn’t want him talking and took the extra step to make sure he wouldn’t.”

There was a stunned silence that fell upon the group, even Linol was looking a bit startled at the new information.

The silence was broken by a series of small sounds, Nakren checking his pockets and removing a small device that he spent some time looking at.

“It’s Krevis, apparently we have a few new guests.” He read out loud.

“Guests? Here?” Linol said in disbelief.

It wasn’t often they got guests if at all.

“Yep, they seem important too, Krevis says we should check it out.” Nakren finished, pocketing the small device.

“What about our own guest?” Savak said, eyeing the door to the room that housed their strange new guest.

“He’s resting right now, he seemed pretty tired and waking up in someplace new and unfamiliar has probably worn him out. I’m sure we can leave him for a little while at least.” Tarni said, trying to reassure her older sister.

Savak said nothing, just gave her younger sister a look and proceeded to the bridge with the others. Tarni kept pace, knowing the conversation to come.

“You saw the bracelet?” Savak asked.

“Yes.”

“Anything you can tell me about it, about him?”

“It’s Galran, he’s not though. I’m unsure what exactly he is but I know he’s definitely not Galran,”

“I could’ve told you that.” Savak interrupted.

Tarni fixed her with a look before continuing, “The bracelet is what I presume to be a betrothal gift of sorts, or a sign of marriage if my studies are correct.”

“So he was married to a Galra?”

“Its possible. Whether they too were put in the same…situation as him is impossible to tell. They may very well be dead for all we know. And as disoriented as he seemed to be it’s likely the last time he was awake was a different setting altogether.”

Savak could see her sister’s face, clearly set in a thoughtful look as she went over the information in her mind.

“But?”

That was all it took for Tarni to spill her thoughts, “There was a gem embedded in the bracelet, and smaller ones too. Quite rare I believe, so whoever gave it to him must’ve been important or high up, a general or commander even.”

Savak hummed in acknowledgement, stopping her sister in her tracks when they finally arrived. She sometimes got so deep in thought everything else just wasn’t there for her. There had been plenty of times in their childhood where Tarni was more than grateful Savak was there.

It was a few ticks before Tarni spoke, both sisters looking over their new guests in colored armor from among the crowd that had gathered, Tarni's eyes widening at the sight of the one in pink.

“She has similar markings to him.”

“What?” Savak said, following her sister’s line of sight. Her eyes settled on one of the strangers, silver white hair glittering in contrast with her dark skin, noticing her cheek markings and pointed ears.

How interesting.


	9. Will Lead To A New Discovery (Part 1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A certain team of paladins enters the stage.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Someone spouted their love for this fic on tumblr and it motivated me to get off my ass and write so uh....moral of the story makes sure to fucking spew your love in a comment for your fave author because it really does help a fucking lot and let's them know that "Hey! Someone's still reading this and loves it!!!!"

Savak hung back with Nakren as Tarni and Linol spoke with their leader and the strange woman that had been invited to their headquarters. They were most likely discussing the current situation with their more…unexpected guest that lay resting in the spare private quarters.

 

“What do you think they’ll do with him?” Nakren said, leaning with his back against the wall, arms crossed and eyes sharp as he watched the small group of Galra and strangers converse.

 

“Who knows? It’s likely he won’t be staying here. No one has time to babysit.” Savak answered him, ears perking up when the group dispersed, the woman and Kolivan following Tarni and Linol to their guest's room.

 

“Should we go with them?”

 

“No, we’ve done our part, it’s out of our hands at this point. Besides, I’m not too keen on being there when Kolivan finds out what exactly our guest is.”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“From what I’ve heard about Zarkon’s witch from those rare few that have caught a glimpse, our guest bears a striking resemblance to her druids in both dress and markings.”

 

* * *

 

 

It was still so cold.

 

He was outright shaking now, clutching the excuse of a robe around him. It was no better than his last and far too short for his liking. It didn’t billow out like he would like and the fabric, while thick and insulated, did little to stave off the cold still present in his flesh and bones.

 

He was shaking so badly he didn’t notice that the door to his quarters had opened, the sound of steps not even registering in his mind until someone spoke to him, voice quiet and calm.

 

Unlike the others he understood her perfectly, the different language translating as easily as he heard it. There was no stumbling or thinking of their meaning, just free flowing and natural.

 

And because of that understanding he froze, looking up from under his hood and meeting bright blue eyes with pink pupils centered in the middle.

 

He vaguely remembers those eyes, from where he’s not certain.

 

From her facial expression she seems to know.

 

Despite her surprise she smiled, words quiet as she spoke to him, kneeled in front of him with hands in her lap like the maiden she looked.

 

 _ _“Are you okay?”__ She asked, smiling softly at him, although it seemed strained, and her shoulders were tense. Like she was afraid or waiting for him to make a move to attack.

 

He raised a clawed hand, watching her tense up as he touched the pads of his fingers lightly to his throat. He winced when he touched the stitched skin, swallowing the lump in his throat, tears threatening to spring forth. From what and why he couldn’t figure, the pain unfamiliar.

 

He could only guess his tears were from his recently discovered wounds and yet it didn’t seem that was quite the reason.

 

She nodded her head in understanding, introducing herself a moment later. __“My name is Allura, is it alright if I ask you yes or no questions that you can nod or shake your head to?”__

 

It took him a moment to process her words, the biting cold that still clung tight to him a bit distracting. Her name seemed familiar for a reason he couldn’t place, a crease developing between his brows as he sought to remember.

 

Realizing she was waiting for an answer he nodded, receiving a reassuring smile from her in return although as strained as it was.

 

 _ _“Do you know how you got your…injury?”__ The question was carefully asked, like she was dealing with a skittish animal.

 

He shook his head, hand grabbing at the edge  of his hood to pull it down, struggling to remember through the pain his migraine caused.

 

 _ _“You don’t have to push yourself, you need rest more than anything. You’ll have to come with us though, the Blade doesn’t have the resources nor the time to watch over you in your current condition. Is that alright with you?”__  Her eyes were trying to look at him through the shrouded darkness of his hood, trying to see his face.

 

She’d have no luck there.

 

He found himself nodding anyway, thinking anywhere else would be better than this cold place.

 

Although he couldn’t see it she gave him a small, reassuring smile, getting up and leaving the room with promises of returning to get him sometime later.

 

* * *

 

 

“We’ll take him in our custody, considering we the means of holding him.” Allura said, eyes focused on the data pad in her hand as she tried to figure out what room within the castle could hold their soon to be new guest.

 

“Means?” It was Kolivan that spoke up, regarding the princess with a look that held minor curiosity at her choice of phrase and wording.

 

“From the information your science officer provided us with regarding the pod that they came out of the carvings on it seem to be identified as altean, with galran and another unknown language carved into it. Although Altean is the most prominent and from what I was able to see I’d guess they were also Altean.” She explained.

 

“Sorry to butt in like this Allura, but you don’t seem too happy about it.” Hunk spoke up, glancing at Allura with an expression that showed nothing but concern for her.

 

“On any normal circumstance I would be, but from what I saw I can’t find it in myself to feel any sort of joy for this particular find.” Allura’s hands seemed to tighten on the data pad, a few of the images flickering and glitching out with the grip of her hold.

 

“Why?” Pidge piped up from where she was sitting on the floor, more than curious why Allura wasn’t the slightest bit elated at the fact that maybe someone like her had survived through the Galran empire’s mass slaughter.

 

“Because whoever is in there is a druid.”


	10. Will Lead To A New Discovery (Part 2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A vague discovery into the background of their guest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two in a row and on the same day?
> 
> On fire

Before anyone could speak the sound of steps entered the room, frantic and fast. One of the Blade’s science officers ran into the room, looking out of breath, her clothing ruffled and holding something in her hand. She looked every bit wild in the eyes, like an exaggerated version of the cat that got the cream as she held the object out to her leader.

 

“Sir, I think you should take a look at this.” She spoke, fur every bit frazzled looking as she handed the contents of whatever she had been holding to Kolivan. “And what am I to do with this exactly?” Kolivan asked, while his face was impassive he held a certain air of cluelessness one couldn‘t tell he had with just a glance.

 

“Here let me.” She said, taking it back from him and going over to the main computer in the room. It took a bit of fiddling before she was able to properly hook up the contraption, the screen turning to static before the computer actually processed the information. The video feed was in terrible shape, glitching like a bad VCR and the quality of the visuals were horribly low from an extended time of wear and tear on the feed. But as it was allowed to continue to play on, they found that the sound was surprisingly good and a few snippets of visuals here and there showed clearly if one were quick enough to catch it.

 

There was the sound of laughing coming through the audio and what video feed did come through clearly was cut off and shaky. But it allowed them to take in the setting of the captured moment.

 

It was sunny looking from what they could tell, likely in some sort of home, maybe one of the rooms judging from a stray blanket there, a pillow here, and a piece of clothing about on the floor. The design of the room’s interior was uniquely Altean, but a few Galran objects could be seen as well. The sound continued even if parts were cut off and patchy.

 

“Come on…get out of…you need…wake up.” Linol pressed a button, pausing the video feed at one of the more clearer images of the whole setting. A bed was now in full view, clearly someone under the covers with remnants of what looked like Galra made armor lying about on the bed and floor.

 

“What are we supposed to be looking at besides  america’s most unfunny video here?” Pidge said, looking bored and uninterested, holding up her hand automatically to receive a high five from Hunk at the reference, while everyone’s face looked the same with confusion at the apparent inside joke they missed.

 

“Right there!” She spoke, zooming in on a small portion of the picture. Everyone looked at it, the paladins clueless while the Galra more or less looked shocked at it.

 

“Not to sound like a repeating Randy but what are we looking at? If no one minds explaining?” Hunk said, mirroring Pidge’s earlier question, looking expectantly from Allura to Kolivan, who looked more than surprised, which was odd considering Hunk had long deduced Kolivan only had one facial expression.

 

“Is that?” Kolivan trailed off, stopping himself as she nodded excitedly. “It is! At first I couldn’t believe it but I went over the video feed with our system resources and triple checked it against found artifacts and engravings that were salvaged on the Galra ships and archives but unless someone is really quiznaking good at faking false video feeds on a device that hasn’t been used in more than ten thousand years I’m pretty certain this is the real deal.” She said excitedly, looking like she was ready to buzz out of her skin.

 

“Okay can someone please explain what’s going on?” Pidge said exasperated, Hunk mirroring her attitude.

 

Allura nodded, “I’ll have to agree with Pidge, what exactly is the significance of this find you all seem to be so in awe about?”

 

Linol turned to look towards the paladins, smile big as she turned back and pointed at the screen. On it looked like nothing more than a choice article of clothing that rested on the floor, although upon closer inspection it looked similar to a glove or a gauntlet.

 

“What you’re seeing right here is similar to a gauntlet worn by one of Zarkon’s most revered commanders,” Linol then exited from the video feed, pulling up the information they had on the gauntlet from their archives and other finds. Many photos of engravings and painted murals worn with age showed the same similar gauntlet in some form or another, worn by a Galran there was no doubt about it, even with the worn look of some of the photos and carvings that were put up for them to see it was clear that a Galran was wielding it, “He was said to have lost the claws of his left hand in battle and wore the gauntlet through the pain. Thus he remained as one of Zarkon’s loyal commanders, until his disappearance that is.”

 

“Disappearance?” Hunk questioned.

 

“The records of him just…stop. Like he somehow dropped off the face of the universe. Every depiction, every archive, every written document rare as they may be that we’ve found just stops after the same point in time.” Linol answered, mouth set in a frustrated scowl at the lack of information found.

 

“Couldn’t he have died?” Pidge said.

 

“I’d be inclined to believe that if there were just as many records of his death as his life. And if they were consistent I’d believe that as well.”

 

“What do you mean Linol?” Koivan asked this time, looking at his science officer for a clear answer.

 

“Any record of death we’ve found looked more or less slapped onto the original history, and no two were ever the same. Some say he died piloting his ship, but he was the best of the best at that time so I doubt it was a pilot error. Other records say he died in battle, and a few more say something different each time. It’s horribly sloppy and inconsistent, like someone did a really shitty job guessing what really happened or covered it up as horribly as they possibly could.” She explained, crossing her arms as she looked at the floor in thought.

 

“Who was this commander anyway?” Allura asked.

 

“His name translated from the old dialect that we found is Commander Yorak.”


	11. Will Flash and Flicker

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Waking up again and traitors among men.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Big kudos to that anon to be honest....like....I've never had the drive to actually wanna update this frequetly before thanks so much!

When the door opened again he looked back to see the same female that had come in to talk to him earlier. Except now her face was set in a more serious expression and there were two other figures behind her just outside the door.

 

“I’d like for you to come with us.” She spoke, voice holding no bit of room for any argument he could’ve come up with if he was able to.

 

He followed just behind her, more shuffling than anything as he clutched the robe tighter across himself, warding off a chill that only he could feel apparently if the looks the figures on either side of him gave him were any clue. They walked past others too, each one in uniform nearly identical to the other, glowing masks showing brightly against the dim interior of whatever ship they were on. He barely spared them a glance, making sure his hood was pulled down more to cover his face in it’s entirety.

 

The space opened up as they entered what he knew to be a hangar, marveling quietly at the many ships and crew members that lingered about, all sparing the group their attention for only a moment before getting back to whatever it was they were doing. He followed the female to a smaller ship that was landed away from the rest, a blip of white against the dim darkness around it. It’s design was somehow eerily familiar to him, although he couldn’t place where he had seen it or how.

 

He hadn’t noticed he had stopped to stare until one of the two beside him, the yellow one, nudged him gently to keep moving into the ship, the metals doors closing with a hiss behind him. As they took off, the uneasy feeling of being in flight caught up with him, familiar yet strange after what he felt was so long overtook him. He leaned heavily against the yellow one, the green one now that he got a good look, stayed behind to help, holding onto his arm with a firm but gentle grip as they set him down on one of the benches that lined the side of the small cargo hold they were in.

 

Before the blackness overtook him he could just make out the pod he had come out of covered with a tarp just sitting idly in the far corner of the hold.

 

 

 

It was the chilled air that woke him, burning his nostrils from the inside out. His eyes opened next, blurry and unfocused, colorful shapes blurring in and out. His body felt heavy, like there was something lying on top of him. When his vision focused enough he sat up, the heavy blanket that had been on him originally falling from his body in a bunched mass.

When everything seemed to stop spinning  for him he took a proper look around, hand coming up to clenched the hood that still covered his head.

Just like the smaller ship he’d been on the sense of familiarity hit him, like he’d seen a room of this design before. And just like last time he couldn’t pinpoint where, wincing a bit as a spike of pain went through his head.

There was the low hiss of a door opening, attracting his attention to the figure that now stood in the doorway.

No not his doorway.

Even faintly he could see and hear the sheer blue of a energy field just beyond the bed, the hum of it an ever present low buzzing in his ear that made him frown. Why they would deem it necessary to entrap him like this he wasn’t sure. Wasn’t even sure of where he came from or who exactly he was. There were faint feelings, but that’s all he could recollect.

Just feelings.

It took him a moment to realize they were speaking, lifting his head up to actually listen to what they had to say, hands gripping the blanket under their fingers.

__“Are you comfortable?”_ _

He didn’t answer, confused by the question more than anything else.

They came closer, into the light where he could see. It was the same female from earlier that had come to talk to him back on the other ship.

“I came to ask you a few questions, is that okay?” She asked, standing just beyond the barrier.

He nodded.

__“Do you know where you are?”_ _

He tried to speak, hand going to his throat almost as fast as the lump that lodged in there when he realized he didn’t quite have that ability yet.

 _ _“You don’t need to try and speak, I already know of your current condition. Just nod or shake your head to answer my questions, I can at least promise it’ll be that simple.”__ She gave a small reassuring smile, one that seemed forced and strained but convinced him anyway.

He nodded.

__“Okay then, do you know where you are?”_ _

He shook his head.

__“Do you know your name?”_ _

It took a moment before he just shook his head, a worried look passing over his face that she couldn’t quite see due to his hood.

“That’s quite alright, are you sure to keep going?”

He nodded.

“Do you know why you were trapped in that pod? Or how you got to be in there?”

The pod?

The pod?

What…

A sharp pain went through his head, causing him to hold his head in his hands in his effort to stop it. Flashes of a memory and sensations he didn’t remember having flickered past his eyes, a bright flash of light, the sound of yelling, angered growls. The anger, goddess he could feel it, how palpable it was in that moment.

Whatever moment __that__  was.

 _ _“We’ll stop for now and continue once you’ve had proper rest and a meal. One of the paladins will return with food for you, in the meantime I suggest you rest. Having the memories you no doubt have coming back will more than just a walk for one such as yourself.”__ She said, leaving him within the cool room, clutching the blankets around him as if his life depended on it, head bowed over until he could almost touch his lap with his forehead.

Who was he?

 

* * *

 

“Yes sir, they’re heading for the Altean’s ship as we speak-” There was a choked off gurgle, the sound of the comm hitting the floor and the voice from it speaking in increasing volume. It ended with a harsh crunch as a clothed foot stamped on it, pressing their foot into it for extra measure as the now slain body fell to the floor.

 

The figure looked over the now dead body of the slain Blade member, a look of disdain and disappointment crossing their features. “Tell our leader the traitor’s message was sent through, mission failed.”

 

The other figure nodded, bringing their wrist up towards their line of sight to relay the message back to their headquarters while her counterpart disposed of the body. After being so long in hiding within the Blade’s ranks it was easy for her to navigate through certain areas without being detected or causing suspicion.

 

By the time they got back to their partner the other had just finished up with the comms, turning to face their returned partner.

 

“Our leader has issued orders that we are to remain here, she’s already awakened a few of our own aboard the ship where the commander is so there’s no need for us to interfere anymore than we have.”

They gave a nod at her words, both leaving the meeting place without so much as a glance back as they went back to their separate posts.


	12. Will Lead To A Shocking Discovery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What to do, what to do, when in your room likes a druid too.

“Did you find out anything about our them Allura?” Shiro asked, him and the other paladins including Coran turning towards her as she entered the common room.

 

Allura shook her head, sitting down in one of the lounge chairs next to Hunk and Pidge who were more or less laid out after the long trip. “It seems he’s currently suffering from a case of amnesia, which could be a possible side effect from his time in the pod. We’d probably have more luck about him from the pod and the files the Blade gave us. Because as it stands for now he doesn’t even seem to know anything about himself or his current state.”

 

“I’m already on it!” Pidge said, running to the lab where they had set up the pod earlier with other equipment needed for it’s continued research, courtesy of the Blade.

 

The room was plunged into silence once more, the remaining persons in the room thinking quietly to themselves regarding their guest.

 

“So, what are we gonna do with them?” Hunk asked, cutting into the silence like a knife, “I mean, we can’t just keep them prisoner like they are. They don’t even know where they are and from what Allura says they have no idea who they are either.”

 

“Hunk’s right, we can’t just keep someone locked up like that. It’s not right and it could just end up causing problems in the long run.” Shiro said, arms crossed as he leaned against the couch a ways away. No one mentioned how he seemed tense after saying that, eyes holding a faraway look as if  memories of a similar situation he went through were resurfacing.

 

“You all seem to forget they’re a druid and have probably worked under Haggar. Which makes them a threat against us and Voltron as a whole.” Allura reminded them, a slight biting edge to her tone. No one spoke up about it, knowing all too well she had every reason not to trust the druid they held for even a second.

 

“To be fair we don’t know that for sure Allura. And besides, if they are I’d rather take the chance and make nice than have them resent us later on. It couldn't possibly bode well for us to make an enemy of someone that doesn’t even know they’re an enemy.” Coran explained, everyone turning to Allura for an answer.

 

It was a few moments before she spoke, face set in a determined and serious expression, “You make a good point, as such I’ll allow for them to go about the castle freely, not without restrictions of course and also __not__  without proper and close supervision is that clear?” She said, tone authoritative and leaving no room for argument. The others nodded, Hunk getting up and going to the lab to inform Pidge of the news, his steps echoing through the room and down the hallway as he left.

 

Allura went to leave as well, her mouth set in a stern line and her steps hurried as she walked back to the control room to monitor the castle and consequently their guest as well.

 

While she may have agreed to let him loose so to speak, she wouldn't be doing so without keeping a careful eye on them. She refused to let her friends get hurt because she failed to be cautious of a threat within their midst.

 

* * *

 

Pidge watched the information on her computer screen closely, the scrolling writing and pictures reflecting off her glasses in a glow within the dim room. The lights cut on a tick after, Pidge turning and giving Hunk a half hearted wave in greeting before turning back to the screen to continue her reading.

 

“We convinced Allura to let the druid dude out of the cell. Someone has to be with them at all times though.” Hunk said.

 

Pidge only hummed, back hunched and in silent thought before she got up, walking to the pod that stood in the middle of the room, connected to various cables and computers running diagnostics and analytics on the strange artifact. She bounced from side to side, looking around the now destroyed pod with interest, stopping at the back of it where the metal was still partially intact with bits of crystal that seemed to grow out of it.

 

“Uh Pidge? You okay there?” Hunk asked in concern, tilting his body to the side and stretching out a bit to see if he could catch a glimpse of her from where he was.

 

As it was he could in fact, not.

 

“Hey Hunk…would you have a look at this for me? I think my glasses are broken.”

 

An eyebrow rose on Hunk’s face in a curious manner as he walked towards her. The green paladin was kneeled behind the pod, hands positioned near the bottom of the intricately carved and molded metal, bending down lower still as if she was reading something. “Why are your glasses broken? Weren’t they fine a few minutes ago?” Hunk questioned, bending down to her level as he tried to see what was wrong.

 

“I thought so, but they have to be. Because either they’re broken to all shit or this writing is in fact in English.”

 

English?

 

Now that caught Hunk’s attention.

 

Hunk squinted his eyes, dark brown peering at the writing that Pidge had her hand under. The writing was smoothly carved into the metal, like everything else about the pod it was intricately detailed and looked as if it were treated with the utmost care, as if this was something important and not just a prison to lock someone up for however long they were wanting. The writing was horizontal, situated like the names put on tombstones, something that caused a shiver to run down Hunk’s spine at the thought of just how long they could’ve been trapped in there. A few of the symbols that came first he recognized as Altean, another set that came immediately after he guessed were Galran. Galran writing had a certain sharpness to the angles and points than the softer Altean writing with all it’s soft swoops and curves, making it easier to identify from it’s counterpart.

 

The final set he recognized in a heartbeat and would have even from a distance if given the chance. But seeing his second language written out so blatantly on something clearly not from Earth or human made in the slightest caused a sense of unease. Especially considering that from what the Blade science officer had said about the pod having been made roughly over ten thousand years ago.

 

And yet there was no denying it was in fact English letters spelled out to form part of what he now deduced was the name of their new guest.

 

A last name specifically.

 

__Valladares_ _


	13. Will Be Cautious

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They discuss their findings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please god don't get used to regular updates like this, I'm surprised I'm even awake to pull this off.

Allura stood up from where she had kneeled to read the inscription, mouth twisted in a puzzled frown as she went over what she’d just read.

 

“Well, what’s the rest of it say?” Pidge asked, fixing her glasses on her face as she leaned against Hunk, the other also looking to Allura with curiosity. They had called her over to see if she could read the rest of it. Pidge, even after roughly four years of learning Altean, couldn’t make sense of some of the symbols that were presented to her. Some of them were unfamiliar shapes and rearrangements of their usual patterns, suggesting it was an older variation of the dialect than what she was originally learning.

 

“The nearest translation I can give for the first name is Lance. As for the Galran I can’t quite make it out. The characters aren’t too familiar to me, in fact I don’t think I’ve seen any quite like this, Coran?”

 

Coran walked beside her and took a good look, eyeing the symbols from all sides and to Hunk and Pidge’s amusement, even upside down before he stood up straight and prepared to tell them his findings. “I don’t quite recognize these symbols either, really odd if you ask me. It’s not everyday I find a language I can’t recognize, or a variation of it I can’t identify.” He explained to them, pulling idly at his moustache.

 

“Lance Valledares. Weird. Why does an alien have a human last name?” Pidge asked aloud, swinging her arms out in a panicked manner as she tried to keep herself from falling as Hunk left her side to kneel next to the pod again. “Maybe we can ask him when he gets his memory back.” Hunk said, the room falling silent at what he’d said.

 

“That’s going to be more than a little difficult seeing as how someone took out his vocal cords.” Allura said, the others looking at her with surprise.

 

“How do you know that?” Shiro asked, finally speaking after watching the scene play out before him.

 

Allura tapped her throat with a finger, “He had fresh stitches down his neck, I’m guessing whoever put him in that pod also made sure that he wouldn’t be able to tell if he ever got out.”

 

The others more or less looked horrified at the information, Hunk gulping audibly and holding a hand to his own neck nervously. “How awful do you have to be to do that to someone?” He said quietly, sounding nervous and scared.

 

Allura shook her head, “Regardless he’s a druid.”

 

“Even so he must’ve done something to piss Haggar off, if he was in fact working for her, to get his vocal cords removed and kept in a pod for ten thousand years after. And if that’s the case then there is a chance he could end up helping us instead.” Pidge thought aloud, face set into concentration with a hand to her chin in deep thought.

 

“Pidge is right, as bad as it sounds we can use that. There’s no way anyone would still be loyal to someone that’s done that to them and on top of that kept them trapped for so long.” Shiro added on, looking to Allura to wait for her thoughts on the subject.

 

“While that is a possibility we don’t know for sure. All we can do now is take the necessary precautions with them and make sure they’re not a threat to us or Voltron. We can’t risk losing what edge we have against the Galra empire.” The others nodded, agreeing with her logic. It did make sense, they knew nothing about their guest besides his name and that he might’ve worked under Haggar and even then that was a guess. There wasn’t anything they could hold on to to let them believe that he’d be on their side. The Galra had already revealed their twisted logic and mannerisms for even the smallest things. Hunk still got the occasional shiver of fright from his time in the space mall and his short time imprisoned in the small kiosk kitchen. And while they might not have been Galran themselves, there was enough evidence to prove they’d been around them long enough to pick on that behavior at least.

 

“While we’re on the subject I feel it’s time we introduce ourselves to our new guest!” Coran said enthusiastically, pulling at his mustache as he went with Shiro to go and get their guest from his outfitted cell.

 

“I hope we’re right about this.” Hunk said, looking after where Coran and Shiro had walked off to.

 

“So do I.” Allura replied.

 

* * *

 

He looked up as the door from his cell opened with a hiss, a man with red hair and a moustache looking at him with a smile on his face. _“Hello there! My name is Coran and this is Shiro.”_ He said, introducing himself and the other male at his side with a flourish.

 

He continued just looking at them, the blanket still clutched around him. It seemed no matter where he went the cold would stay and even if it didn’t seem to help he kept as many layers on him as he could. He turned his head towards the figure in black as they stepped in front of the red headed man, eyes looking calm and welcoming despite his tense posture.

 

_“It’s Lance right?”_

 

He snapped his head up, more alert than he had been before. The name sounded oh so familiar and right, memories of it having been uttered by fuzzy faces and familiar voices flickered in his mind and before he could stop himself he nodded towards the other, surprising even himself with the admission.

 

 _“Good. Are you hungry? I’m sure we can find you something to eat that won’t aggravate your injury.”_ Coran suggested.

 

Lance put a hand to his throat, the rough feeling of the stitches uncomfortable and strange against his fingertips. He nodded, looking up as they opened a space in the energy field of his cell, just big enough for him to walk through. With help from Shiro he was able to walk out of the cell, feeling weak enough that he ended up leaning heavily against him. They left the confines of the room his cell had been in, his eyes blinking quickly and squinting against the bright light as they entered the corridor. They continued walking until they came to another set of doors, opening into a dimly lit room littered with cables all along the floor and the sound of computers whirring softly in the background.

 

Two other figures he remembers from his trip to this ship turned to look at them, Shiro setting him down in a stray chair that had been lying about. “Can you two watch over Lance for a few? It’ll only be for a few minutes, we have to go set up a proper room for them.” Shiro asked of them, the other two nodding their heads, Hunk looking more nervous of the two as he glanced at their newest arrival. “And Hunk, could you fix them something to eat? Maybe something easy on the throat like soup?” He suggested, Hunk nodding nervously as he went to prepare something, Shiro trailing after him and leaving Pidge and Coran with Lance.

 

Lance sat still, eyes roaming around the interior of the lab he was in, eyes staying put on the destroyed pod he had emerged from that was now hooked up to multiple cables with a few scanners in progress. He tilted his hooded head to the side as he stared at it, not noticing the girl had approached him until she held out something in her hand. “The Blade found this in your pod, we home, recording video feeds and audio and all that. It’ll probably help with gaining back your memory.” She explained, handing Lance the object they’d watched the feed from earlier back at the Blade headquarters.

 

He took it carefully, moving it between his hands and touching different parts with careful fingers. He jumped when it turned on, the audio from earlier replaying along with the same scratchy, low quality video feed showing up as a small hologram. The laughing he heard from it was warm and seemed fond, the words spoken, even broken up due to the age of the feed sounding soft and more than gentle for whoever it was directed at. And for some reason it left a heavy feeling in his chest, tears gathering at the corner of his eyes that he couldn’t justify even as they ran down his cheeks. Pidge and Coran watched nervously, jumping when Lance looked up, head suddenly turning towards the far wall and looking tense.

 

A few ticks passed before the alarms started blaring, Allura’s voice sounding over the intercom in a  panicked way.

 

“A Galra warship has appeared! Everyone get to the bridge now!”


	14. Will Be Measured

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Under attack.

“Shit! What the hell was that?” Pidge cursed, losing her balance when the ship rocked with another explosion, the lights within the lab flickering erratically in response to such an intense hit.

 

“Allura what’s going on?” Pidge said into her comm, grunting when the castle was hit again, slamming her into one of the stationary lab tables, her side blooming with pain at the hit.

 

“We’re under attack, they’re hitting us from all sides, brace yourself and don’t take your eyes off the druid!” Allura ordered, tone commanding and sounding strained, like she too was bracing herself for the next hit, one that came not long after the connection ended.

 

A few more curses slipped from Pidge’s lips as she struggled to stand, bayard at the ready as she turned to the other in the room, ready to fight in case he tried something while her guard was down. If there was any a good time to do it, it would have to be now.

 

Much to her surprise though he was not paying a bit of attention to her, now on the floor with his borrowed robes splayed around him, likely jarred and knocked from his seat by the ship’s rocking and clutching the small holo feed in one of his hands, his other hand lying flat on the floor to keep him upright. Or so she had thought before her eyes were drawn to the measured tapping of his fingers as he stared straight ahead. The ship rocked again as they were hit a few more times, the steady tapping of his fingers continuing. She was puzzled at this, wondering why he seemed so oddly calm. Surely anyone who woke up with amnesia of some sort in a strange place, only to be moved shortly to another and fallen under attack in the span of a few hours should be more than panicked in a situation like this.

 

She lost her balance, feet slipping against the cool metal of the floor as the castle rocked again, gritting her teeth as she tried to find purchase. Her brown eyes opened, watching as the other barely even flinched in such a state, the sparks from overhead lights popping and crackling above them as they rained down did nothing to break him from whatever trance he was in.

 

The tapping wasn’t as random an act as she thought.

 

She watched as his finger tapped on the cool metal floor, ignoring the sparks and embers that threatened to burn his dark skin as it fell from the ceiling in a twisted version of rain.

__Tap._ _

 

__Tap._ _

 

__Tap._ _

 

The ship rocked again, explosion hitting it from the side, his finger pointed slightly in that direction ticks before it hit.

 

__Tap._ _

 

__Tap._ _

 

Another hit from the right, finger pointed towards the far wall.

 

__Tap._ _

 

__Tap._ _

 

__Tap._ _

 

Another hit from the front of where he was facing, finger again pointed in that direction.

 

“What the fuck,” She lifted her wrist towards her mouth, “Allura!” She called loudly, the princess responding moments later.

 

“What is it Pidge?!” Concern was evident in the princess’s voice, the sounds of the others melding in the background with the sounds of screeching metal and more explosions that just barely missed hitting the ship head on.

 

“What’s the plan to get out of this mess?”

 

“They’re not giving us even a tick to charge the teleduv enough to open a wormhole out of here and we’re currently surrounded, so if you have any ideas I’m all ears.” Allura answered, the comms flickering in and out when another shot hit, Pidge falling to a knee. “I think I have a way to buy us some time, you’re gonna need to listen and pilot the ship in the opposite direction of what I say.”

 

“Pidge what are you gonna do?-” Shiro said, having to yell over the loud ship fire.

 

“Allura!” Pidge pleaded.

 

“Go ahead Pidge, I’m listening.”

 

Pidge watched the druid carefully, eyes picking out the taps and minute directions they’d go in before relying it back to Allura.

 

__Tap._ _

 

__Tap._ _

 

__Left._ _

 

__Tap._ _

 

__Tap._ _

 

__Tap._ _

 

__Right._ _

 

__Tap._ _

 

__Tap._ _

 

__Forward._ _

 

This continued for a few more minutes, each paladin nervous and yet excited each time the castle dodged a calculated shot perfectly. Allura’s eyes snapped to the control displays, seeing that the teleduv was ready to be used.

 

“Everyone brace yourselves!”

 

A flash of light and the wormhole opened, the castleship going through it effortlessly and leaving the whole fleet of Galra behind in its midst. In an instant it was quiet, with only the deep expanse of space and bright stars view. The alarms and blaring red lights on the displays were still going strong, alerting the Altean of the many damages to the ship and current condition of the particle barrier or, at this point, the lack thereof.

 

“So…are we good? We’re okay now right? No need to panic?” Hunk whispered nervously, as if he thought if he said it any louder the Galra would somehow show up out of nowhere like before.

 

Coran was next to speak, his voice upbeat and enthusiastic as ever, “I believe we are, what scans we’re actually getting show no other Galra ships within the system. Although we’re in dire need of repairs.” He mused, eyes never once leaving the display.

“We’ll head to the nearest planet then, see if we can land and find a marketplace that may have just what we need. In the meantime I’m curious as to how Pidge was able to guide us away from the shots.” Allura mused.

 

“I didn’t.”

Everyone turned their heads to the only entrance and exit of the control room, eyes landing on Pidge who walked farther in until she was beside Hunk, who hugged her tightly.

 

“Dude, I was worried about you! How’d you get us out of there anyway?” Hunk said, perplexed.

When Pidge was finally free to be on solid ground again she spoke, fixing her glasses as she did. “ I told you, I didn’t. He did.” She said, jabbing a thumb behind her.

 

Everyone looked where she was pointing. The druid was standing at the frame of the doorway, watching them in turn before he fell to his knees.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was originally going to introduce Keith in this chapter but there would've been too many missing plot points and holes in it and while I might take inspiration from the show I refuse to reduce myself to their level.
> 
> Anyways Keith will show up around the next two chapters....maybe....if it goes well.


	15. Will Leave A Trail

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pit stop

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know what the fuck I'm even writing anymore but have this, the next chapter should be more...more I guess.

They were luckily able to find a nearby planet to land on, a lone backwater planet called Kixav. It was one of the larger planets in the system, the whole planet a forest of Autumn colors cut through with a single snowy mountain range so large and peaked it wound around the entire planet as if someone had decorated it with icing, the peaks standing frozen outside of the planet’s own atmosphere.

They were mostly known for their colorful and detailed textiles around these parts, some of the softest cloths and fabrics could be found there, the patterns so elaborate for some it’d take hours just to look at them all in detail.

“Sounds pretty.” Hunk said aloud.

“Oh it is! I had a few pillowcases made the last time I visited! Although they were so pretty I had them framed instead!” Coran explained, pulling up a few pictures of the Kixavens work for the rest of the team to see and admire.

While Shiro was conversing with Coran, Allura went over by Pidge and Hunk who were tending to the fallen druid. Hunk had given him a bowl of something to eat, the other nibbling at it slowly as he sat in a chair they’d grabbed for him. Pidge was a few paces behind them both, watching them carefully as if she was deep in thought.

“Pidge.” Allura called to her softly, getting the green paladin’s attention. “Can I speak to you for a moment?” Pidge nodded, brushing a few locks of hair from her eyes as she stood at attention. “This about the druid?”

Allura nodded, “I’m still quite curious as to how you were able to direct us out of there from where you were. The lab doesn’t have any windows and the scans showed the display controls had been damaged at the first shot.” She explained.

Pidge fixed her glasses on her face, preparing to answer. “I noticed he was tapping his fingers during it all, he was too still and calm not to notice you know? And right before every hit we took he’d point in the direction that it was coming from, it was timed and everything. It was like he knew when and where every shot was coming from.”

Both Allura and Pidge looked at the druid that Hunk was currently tending to, trying to get him to eat some more since it was quite obvious from his weak state he’d likely had little to no food since he’d gotten out of the pod he was trapped in.

“You think he might’ve been using his powers?” Pidge asked, trailing off near the end of it. Allura shook her head, “I don’t know. I find it hard to believe considering his amnesia. And if he was able to use his powers that doesn’t explain why he’s still here.” She replied, crossing her arms as she stood deep in thought.

“Why would he help us anyway?” Pidge questioned.

“I don’t think he was.”

Both girls startled at Shiro’s voice, the other putting his hands up in an apologetic manner. “Sorry, didn’t mean to sneak up on you two.” He said sheepishly, the other two relaxing after realizing it was just him.

“What do you mean Shiro?” Pidge asked, referring to his earlier statement, eyes wide and curious for an answer.

“Well, you said you just noticed him doing it, he didn’t try to get your attention at all right?”

Pidge nodded.

“Maybe he didn’t even know he was doing it? From what it sounds like it was just lucky for us you picked up on it so fast.”

Pidge smiled, preening at the praise given, Shiro returning his own towards her. Even after all these years the younger paladins still looked up to him like family. Something that he treasured dearly and would protect with his life.

Hunk joined the three of them a few ticks later, pulling his hair back in a more neatened ponytail than he had earlier. “I got him to eat something at least, are you guys going down to the markets to find supplies? If so I have a list of stuff I need to get if you don’t mind me tagging along.” He suggested, Allura nodding towards him.

“That’d be fine Hunk. Shiro, you and Coran will stay here, Coran will fix what he can with what we have to at least get started on bringing this ship back to working order and he’ll need someone to stay behind and watch the druid since he won’t be able to keep a complete eye on him.” She explained, the other nodding in agreement as he went over to the druid’s side.

Allura gathered Hunk and Pidge with her, leaving Shiro and Coran to themselves with the druid sitting quietly at the dining table, hooded face bent down towards their lap, hands messing and picking at the soft fabric of his robes.

It’d be a long day.

 

* * *

 

 

Lance listened and watched closely as the red headed one, Coran his mind supplied, attempted to fix what he could. Key word attempted. To him it seemed nothing more than the man pulling out cords and putting in parts that even with his next to knowledge of mechanics, he was sure didn’t go together in the slightest. But somehow it seemed to work, the displays less red and blaring than they had been before.

The other figure, Shiro he remembered, stood by him diligently and watched Coran as well, every so often he could feel his gaze on him before returning back to Coran when a bang would sound out and a slew of Altean curses left the older man’s mouth.

Now those words he recognized.

“Shiro! Would you mind holding this for me for a tick?” Coran asked, voice echoing within the floor he was currently halfway in, arm stretched out and holding something that resembled a pipe if it had been thrown into the sun and warped by time and space itself. The black paladin went over quickly, holding the object while still facing the druid, eyes focused entirely on him.

And then suddenly everything was still.

An odd white haze covered everything, making Lance rub at his eyes to try and clear his vision, but to no avail, the white haze was still very much present, flecks of gold misting at the edges of both Coran and Shiro as they stood still as statues.

__Come outside._ _

His head snapped up in surprise, turning this way and that to find the source of the voice.

__Please. I want to see you again._ _

He stood up slowly, flecks of gold appearing before him and making a trail that led out of the control room doors.

__It’s been so long, please hurry. I want to see you again._ _

Compelled by an unknown force he followed the voice’s instructions, robes trailing behind him as he left the room.


	16. Will Be Clustered And Blue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A connection to the past.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another update? So soon?

Outside was much the same as inside, a white haze and golden flecks flitting about every alien he could see just outside. The sun was tantalizingly warm, a fixed heat instead of the regular fluctuating it’d have if time wasn’t so still and quiet. Lance continued walking on, the voice guiding him through the autumn colored roads and through the bright and burnt oranges, yellows, and golds of the forests, trees towering above in a twisted mass of trunks and branches that curled away from him to create a clear path to his destination.

 

__You’re almost there._ _

 

He pushed on despite the now pounding headache and tired limbs, feet sore and bruising as he trudged on, determination filling him as he continued. The voice a gentle persistence in his mind to continue on.

__

__You’re here._ _

 

What could’ve been hours passed by with no change in time, the day still bright and sunny as the druid finally arrived at his destination.

 

He was at the base of the mountain range, the starting edge of it if the size was anything to go by, the peak well into the sky and out of the atmosphere of the planet. It was beyond massive and would make anyone feel small just by looking at it from a distance. Like this it was almost overwhelming with how large it was. If it had been later in the day the shadow would have definitely covered most of the forest and land beyond it.

 

Lance fell to his knees, robes pillowed around him, breathing heavily through his mouth. He most likely would have passed out if not for the voice that spoke again, a refreshing feeling washing over him, flecks of gold flitting around him in a flurry of small, almost excited looking blurs.

 

__You’re finally here. I’ve missed you so much._ _

 

He tried to pinpoint where he could have possibly heard that voice, trying to figure out who he could’ve met or spoken to with a voice sounding so fond and gentle, like a mother that hadn’t seen her child for so long, but not quite.

 

The owner of the voice was revealed soon after, the sound of the earth rumbling beneath his feet causing him to place his hands on both sides of his legs on the ground to keep his balance. Rock and stone crumbled like dust above him, the mountain side cracking and bulging like something was breaking free from the confines within. Whatever had been trying to break free was revealed sometime later, a gold white glow shining brightly through the large gouges and cracks in the stone and ice. A head bust through, the creature massively large and imposing. It’s body was translucent, the inside of it showing it’s skeleton or what he could see of it that wasn’t hidden back into the darkness of the now hollow mountain, fractals of white bone looking things forever shifting and pulsing like a slow heartbeat embedded within it.

 

It slithered out a ways from the gaping hole of the mountain that it had created, head and neck poised like a snake ready to attack, red violet eyes large and piercing, set within the translucent skin with the barest film of white to protectively cover them from the elements. Teeth longer than the trees were set just inside the mouth, glowing white and pulsing slowly as well in time with it’s bones.

 

The large creature looked down on him, eyes intense yet gentle as it looked at his prone and defenseless form, large frills and quills at the side of it’s face quivering excitedly.

 

__There you are!_ _

 

The voice was excited and child like, the giant of a creature turning it’s head to the side, lowering it’s massive head down to his level, the druid barely half the size of one of their smaller teeth at the front.

 

__Aren’t you happy to see me?_ _

__

The voice sounded hurt and for some reason he found himself saddened by this, the barest feelings of memories passing through him, a feeling of nostalgia washing over his mind. Flashes of images flickered behind his eyes, a cold floor, late night, a small snake like creature, their fear as they had curled up scared by a pet.

 

__You don’t remember me._ _

 

It was a statement more than a question, the creature tilting their head to the other side, and watching him for any sign of recognition.

 

__They took you away and made you forget. Unforgivable._ _

 

Lance flinched back, the creature’s anger palpable in the air, the gold flecks burning in intensity and glowing brighter than they had been before, the white haze looking more like a fog now than anything.

 

Noticing his fear they stopped, the gold returning to it’s normal soft glow and the fog softening to its hazy state like before.

 

__Forgive me, I didn’t mean to frighten you._ _

 

They dipped their head down lower, giving Lance a nudge so gentle no one would have expected from a creature so large and imposing when he himself was barely a blip against their size.

 

__You’re so weak. Its been so long since it’s held you in it’s gentle grasp hasn’t it?_ _

 

He found himself nodding, their words somehow making sense and eliciting an answer without him having to even think about it.

 

__Before I was too young and weak to help you, something I will regret and feel guilty for as long as I am able to remember. But now I can attempt to repay the debt I owe, although I know nothing I do will ever amount to what you’ve done for me it’s the very least I can do for you and everything you’ve done to help me in the past._ _

 

The gold flecks burned brighter, moving at speeds so fast they became tiny blurs similar to small gnats in patches of sunlight. Below him the ground burned with a light that took form of a sigil, markings and writing so lost to time he doubted anyone could ever truly decipher them.

 

There was a flash of light and then his vision went dark.

 

* * *

 

 

“Lance, make sure to lock up the lab before you leave and make sure Kova isn’t inside again, he made a mess the last time someone forgot to check over the lab.” Honerva said, eyeing her cat which lazed on one of the lab tables, one golden eye looking right back at her without a care in the world.

 

“Yeah of course! See you in the morning miss!” Lance said, trying to put away a stack of datapads without falling out of the chair, a feat he succeeded with little margin for error.

 

“I’ve told you, just call me Honerva.” She called as she left, the door closing behind her, but not before a rushed out “Mama’s habits don’t die!” reached her ears, a gentle smile on her lips as the doors shut and locked from the inside of the lab with a hiss.

 

Lance straightened back up in the chair, grabbing his own datapad and scanning through his messages and inbox. Kova appeared at his side not even ticks later, rubbing his flank against Lance’s arms and mewing softly to get his attention. Without even looking up Lance placed a hand through the cat’s fur, said cat plopping down heavily against his arm and settling down once more, eyes closing to sleep. It was silent in the lab this time of night, everyone else having left long ago, none too keen on staying in the late hours like Lance or Honerva usually did.

 

Lance found the research on the rift interesting, although he wasn’t as nearly as invested in finding out it’s secrets like Honerva was, the older woman sometimes going days without leaving the lab and forgoing eating and drinking to skimming through her research and taking detailed notes.

 

Both cat and Altean jumped up at the sound of crackling, a bright flash of light blinding both for a brief moment, the lights flickered, buzzing uncontrollably. And then suddenly it was quiet again, Kova hissed and stood up, fur fluffing up as he jumped down from the table, running into the room where the rift was currently torn and active. In a panic for the cat’s well being Lance followed him, curses slipping from his lips that he wouldn’t dare utter if he were on the same planet as his mother. When he reached the inside of the room the rift was calm and stable, air quiet and still as if nothing had ever happened.

 

The only disturbance was Kova, hissing vehemently in the corner of the room, trying to reach whatever was under one of the machines they used to scan and display the rift’s readings.

 

Lance walked over to the cat, cooing softly in an attempt to calm the feline. “Kova sweetheart, what’d you find huh? What is it?” He spoke softly, kneeling down and pushing the animal to the side gently, the cat turning away before hopping on another one of the tables a few feet away, crouching down with his gold eyes watching the Altean as he bent down to look at whatever the cat had found.

 

“Woah.”

 

At the back wall just under the machine he could see a small creature, glowing a faint gold color and looking translucent, it’s skeleton seeming to shift just under it’s skin, pink eyes and chubby frills at the sides of it’s face pressed back in what he assumed was fear if the shaking and quivering of it’s skin and curled up eel like body was anything to go by.

 

“Hey there.” He cooed, holding out his hand to gently coax the small thing out. As expected it didn’t move a muscle, something like a sing song whimper leaving it at his sudden movement.

 

Lance sat back, arms laid relaxed over his knees and biting his bottom lip as he thought for a moment. He turned to look over the lab, making sure no one was present before he bent back down again. With a slower, gentler hand than before he tried to coax the small creature once more, his hand glowing gold, pulses soft and slow. The tiny thing tilted it’s head towards him in a questioning manner and after a few minutes of this it curiously went forward, pressing it’s face into his palm, body curling around his wrist in a snug fit.

 

“There we go, that wasn’t so hard was it?” Lance said softly, scratching the tiny thing just under it’s chin, a small chittering sound meeting his ears, a smile crossing his face at that. “You are the cutest thing I’ve ever seen. Reminds me of those pink lizard fish back home.” Kova snarled from where he was crouched just on the table, the small creature in his hand curling tighter around his wrist, frills pressed back against their face.

 

“Second cutest, you happy now Kova?” The cat only purred, giving Lance his answer.

 

Lance looked down at the small thing again, bright blue eyes looking into light pink, a translucent white skin covering their eyes in a light film. “Hm…you look like a Mura.”

 

Another light chitter met his ears, an agreement on the name if he ever saw one.

 

* * *

 

 

The sun was warm and bright, completely blue eyes seeing autumn colored grasses glowing in shades of golds against the light, blowing ever so gently and gracefully in the breeze. Among the grass a flower met his sight, a shade of blue and petals so familiar his heart ached as a homesickness tore through him.

 

Lance sat up, putting a hand to his head in anticipation for the sharp pain of a headache that never came. In fact he felt better than he had in what felt like forever and he was hot, his skin burning and robes feeling stuffy and uncomfortable in the warm afternoon weather. He was surprised to find that he felt fine when he took the robe off, skin feeling cool and refreshed instead of the frigid cold he’d been feeling since he had awakened all those days ago.

 

And now that he could properly look around he could see that the flowers were arranged in a clustered circle around him, the pretty blues of the orchids in stark contrast to the bright and burnt oranges of the grass around him. He smiled as he reached a hand towards one, feeling the thrum of it’s pulse even before he touched the petals, the very life force of it calm and pulsing gently underneath his fingertips.

 

In fact he could feel the life around him thrum with an energy that sung pleasantly under his skin, something he hadn’t felt in so long it was a welcome relief from the dreaded cold and stillness he’d felt for much too long. His eyes drew up to the mountain, a gaping black hole that no doubt lead all the way around the planet, the inside now hollow and vacant.

 

Apparently Mura had left.

 

The sadness only held him for a second, his thoughts drifting to…

 

Keith.

 

The sudden thought had him try and stand up quickly, only falling back down in a heap when his legs proved still too weak and heavy feeling to properly use. Panic gripped him, memories coming back in short quick bursts that quickly overwhelmed him. He pushed those thoughts aside to try and walk again, determined to try and find his way back to the ship, leaving the cluster of orchids and vacant mountain range behind him.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just in case it doesn't translate for some, Mura is a creature from the rift that was saved and protected from both Kova and consequently Haggar since it's likely they would've been used in experiments later on had she found out about them.
> 
> Fast forward to present chapter and Mura had actually been waiting for Lance for as long as it took to try and repay him, seeking refuge on a planet and integrating herself with the environment in the form of a mountain range that she herself is the cause of.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and kudos are hella appreciated!
> 
> Also would love to hear any predictions you guys have.


End file.
